Stem Cell Research - Advantages and Disadvantages - Advantages and disadvantages table in GCSE Biology

Created by: Ellie Dearden
Created on: 01-04-13 14:00


	Stem Cell Research - Advantages and Disadvantages
	Advantages It provides medical benefits in the fields of therapeutic cloning and regenerative medicine. It provides great potential for discovering treatments and cures to a variety of diseases including Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, spinal cord injuries, diabetes and many more. Limbs and organs could be grown in a lab from stem cells and then used in transplants or to help treat illnesses. It will help scientists to learn about human growth and cell development. Scientists and doctors will be able to test millions of potential drugs and medicine, without the use of animals or human testers. This necessitates a process of simulating the effect the drug has on a specific population of cells. This would tell if the drug is useful or has any problems. Stem cell research also benefits the study of development stages that cannot be studied directly in a human embryo, which sometimes are linked with major clinical consequences such as birth defects, pregnancy-loss and infertility. A more comprehensive understanding of normal development will ultimately allow the prevention or treatment of abnormal human development. Stem cell research also benefits the study of development stages that cannot be studied directly in a human embryo, which sometimes are linked with major clinical consequences such as birth defects, pregnancy-loss and infertility. A more comprehensive understanding of normal development will ultimately allow the prevention or treatment of abnormal human development. An advantage of the usage of adult stem cells to treat disease is that a patient's own cells could be used to treat a patient. Risks would be quite reduced because patients' bodies would not reject their own cells. Embryonic stem cells can develop into any cell types of the body, and may then be more versatile than adult stem cells.	Disadvantages The use of embryonic stem cells for research involves the destruction of blastocysts formed from laboratory-fertilized human eggs. For those people who believe that life begins at conception, the blastocyst is a human life and to destroy it is immoral and unacceptable. Like any other new technology, it is also completely unknown what the long-term effects of such an interference with nature could materialize. Embryonic stem cells may not be the solution for all ailments. According to a new research, stem cell therapy was used on heart disease patients. It was found that it can make their coronary arteries narrower. A disadvantage of most adult stem cells is that they are pre-specialized, for instance, blood stem cells make only blood, and brain stem cells make only brain cells. These are derived from embryos that are not a patient's own and the patient's body may reject them.
	Evaluation In conclusion, the development of stem cell research is important. There are clearly more advantages than disadvantages but this should not mean that the disadvantages are insignificant.

Stem Cell Research - Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

It provides medical benefits in the fields of therapeutic cloning and regenerative medicine.
It provides great potential for discovering treatments and cures to a variety of diseases including Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, spinal cord injuries, diabetes and many more.
Limbs and organs could be grown in a lab from stem cells and then used in transplants or to help treat illnesses.
It will help scientists to learn about human growth and cell development.
Scientists and doctors will be able to test millions of potential drugs and medicine, without the use of animals or human testers. This necessitates a process of simulating the effect the drug has on a specific population of cells. This would tell if the drug is useful or has any problems.
Stem cell research also benefits the study of development stages that cannot be studied directly in a human embryo, which sometimes are linked with major clinical consequences such as birth defects, pregnancy-loss and infertility. A more comprehensive understanding of normal development will ultimately allow the prevention or treatment of abnormal human development.
Stem cell research also benefits the study of development stages that cannot be studied directly in a human embryo, which sometimes are linked with major clinical consequences such as birth defects, pregnancy-loss and infertility. A more comprehensive understanding of normal development will ultimately allow the prevention or treatment of abnormal human development.
An advantage of the usage of adult stem cells to treat disease is that a patient's own cells could be used to treat a patient. Risks would be quite reduced because patients' bodies would not reject their own cells.
Embryonic stem cells can develop into any cell types of the body, and may then be more versatile than adult stem cells.

Disadvantages

The use of embryonic stem cells for research involves the destruction of blastocysts formed from laboratory-fertilized human eggs. For those people who believe that life begins at conception, the blastocyst is a human life and to destroy it is immoral and unacceptable.
Like any other new technology, it is also completely unknown what the long-term effects of such an interference with nature could materialize.
Embryonic stem cells may not be the solution for all ailments.
According to a new research, stem cell therapy was used on heart disease patients. It was found that it can make their coronary arteries narrower.
A disadvantage of most adult stem cells is that they are pre-specialized, for instance, blood stem cells make only blood, and brain stem cells make only brain cells.
These are derived from embryos that are not a patient's own and the patient's body may reject them.

Evaluation

In conclusion, the development of stem cell research is important. There are clearly more advantages than disadvantages but this should not mean that the disadvantages are insignificant.

Comments

Sharon

Report Mon 1st April, 2013 @ 15:24

Very useful thanks

Swallowtail

Report Sun 16th February, 2014 @ 16:59

The advantages and disadvantages of stem cell research is often asked as one of the longer questions in GCSE Biology, often worth a fair number of marks. This type of table helps to summarise the key points and focus thoughts effectively. Try combining this with a mind map using colour and images to memorise the key points.