Reference no: EM133388276

Questions

1. Explain the similarities and differences of embryonic stem (ES) cells and organ-specific stem cells.

2. Some people object to the use of embryonic stem (ES) cells for scientific study or for medical applications. One of the objections raised concerns the ethics of sacrificing embryonic cells. People with this objection think that cells that could potentially become a human should not be used for any other purpose.

a. Based upon this information, explain why organ-specific stem cells do not elicit the same objections.

b. Would your answer to part a, above, change if recent studies are confirmed claiming that organ-specific stem cells can be converted into totipotent cells? Explain your reasoning.

3. Additional ethical questions surround the use of stem cells. For example, some people feel that using stem cells to cure disease opens the possibility of extending the human life span far beyond the normal biological limit.

a. Evaluate whether you think it is possible to indefinitely extend human life using stem cells to replace worn-out cells.

b. If stem-cell technology can be advanced to the extent of extending human life indefinitely, is it ethical to develop such technology? Explain your reasoning.

4. What will be gained and what will be lost if stem cells are developed for curing the diseases listed by the authors in the opening paragraph? Explain your answer.

5. The authors spend considerable effort to distinguish between reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning.

a. Evaluate their intention in making this distinction clear. What do you think the authors hope to gain by their clarification of terms?.

b. Do you think that the authors' suggestion of clarifying these terms will make a difference to public reaction about this technology? Are there additional discussions involving the public that need to occur at the same time that scientists discuss the scientific principles underlying stem-cell biology? Explain your thinking.