Knowing that I wanted to do something in the realm of medical ethics, a quick internet search through ethical debates I came across the moral debate over stem cells, something that I was familiar with thanks to Freshman year biology. The debate over the utilization of embryonic stem cells and the “termination of human life” has proven most difficult for professionals to agree upon as there really is no right answer; there is no hard definition to when life starts. As it turns out, we may have a way to evade this ongoing ethical debate with the emergence of a new technology of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (IPS).
Through my biology class freshman year, I had a general understanding of what stem cells were, granted it was two years ago so once I took the final for that class, I cannot say that a lot of the information was retained. However, one thing that I do remember is that my class briefly went over IPS but talked about it as a futuristic: “this is a plausible solution for the future” type thing. After a few weeks of research and especially after having my personal interview, what my Freshman year biology class had called a “plausible solution” is now a reality. I had interviewed a man named Dr. Wertheim who is currently working on a very apparent issue in today’s society: organ donation and whether or not a match will be made between a recipient and a donor. Dr. Wertheim and a team of scientists are currently working with IPS cells (any ordinary cell that is reprogrammed) to resemble embryonic stem cells (which possess the ability to differentiate into any cell in the body). Those cells are being used to grow human livers for those waiting for a donation, being used to test experimental medications and are enabling medical professionals to learn more about human diseases than ever before.
As our world progressively becomes more and more technology based, it’s important to be informed of these things so that we can support the efforts being put forth. One of things that Dr. Wertheim stressed is that it is very difficult for research to go anywhere and to make progress if there is no support; without support there is no money and with no money the necessary equipment cannot be bought to enable further progress. This new technology evades a moral debate that has been going on for decades and has the potential to save hundreds and improve the quality of thousands of more lives. Since learning about stem cells in bio Freshman year I have always thought that because most embryonic stem cells come from donated embryos, research should be conducted, especially if it means that you’re potentially saving the lives of thousands of people. My research only strengthened my opinion that stem cell research should prevail but now that I am more informed about the topic, knowing that this whole ethical debate can be avoided, I think more attention and recognition should be given to IPS research; people need to know what it is and know the extent of its potential.
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