What's the big deal about embryonic stem cells?

Basically three problems: 1. Embryonic stem cells have never provided even a hint of a viable therapy for anyone....nor is it likely they ever will. 2. It's the other type of stem cell research....where mature cells are caused to turn back into stem cells and then redifferentiate, where all the promise lies, for reasons that should be obvious.....you can't just take some random stem cells and inject them somewhere. That's ludicrous. Why is this a big deal? Because Obama is doing far more than "legalizing" stem cell research. He's pulling most of the funding from the promising stem cell research to the type that doesn't and cannot work. 3. Emryonic stem cell research is nothing more than a boondoggle to legitimize abortion. Just like the nazi death camp research done on humans, the use of such research is anti-life and immoral in the extreme. So, what you have here is a cruel trick played on the very ill, actually taking away money from promising research and redirecting it toward BS that has no other purpose than to devalue human life as part of a sick marxist agenda. That my friend is the big deal.

1. Research can be legally performed using animal embryonic cells to develop a technique that perhaps may not be performed in any other way, without the moral baggage. Perhaps it would be immoral to ignore such a new technique. 2. Embryonic stem cells contain the DNA of the cells and likely will be rejected as foreign tissue by any recipient, whereas using adult stem cells can be used at least on the donor of the cells and could easily merit serious research. 3. Stem cells given to recipients have caused cancers and therefore there are risks and moral questions regarding experiments on humans without informed consent not based on substantial animal testing. 4. Many tax payers object on moral grounds that their (forced) taxation is being used for programs that they consider immoral. Embryonic research is not the only moral issue that concerns many citizens, including assisted suicide and abortion. Who should 'dictate' solutions to such concerns and is there a slippery slope if moral issues are ignored?

The problem is the controversy is faux. IVF is a perfectly legal and socially acceptable treatment that results in thousands of wasted embryos and thousands more that are just destroyed without even trying to be used. I do realize that there are many groups who disagree with IVF, but no one is challenging it, no one tries to make it illegal. And to a point, it is federally funded with people whose federal provided insurance covers a portion of the price. So, why is it suddenly wrong to create and kill embryos when it has the potential of helping billions of people? Even if all embryonic stem cell research ended today, these embryos would still be created, would still be killed during IVF, would still be killed out of waste, and will still be used as research in other areas. I think it is hipocritical and down right wrong for people to suddenly protest this when it has the potential to do so much. Beyond that... Its hard to deny that an embryo is life, and yes it has human dna, but isnt consciousness what defines humanity? These embryos have no body form, no formed organs, no heart beat, no brain, no cns and no consciousness. That combined with the precendent of other research and proceedures that create and kill embryos, (not to mention that avoided controversy is never a reason to give up) I am totally for embryonic stem cell research. And keep in mind that even though adult stem cell research has bloomed in the last decade, that bloom has been 100 years in the making.

Embryonic stem cells (ES cells) are stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of an early stage embryo known as a blastocyst. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50–150 cells. Embryonic Stem (ES) cells are pluripotent. This means they are able to differentiate into all derivatives of the three primary germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm. These include each of the more than 220 cell types in the adult body. Pluripotency distinguishes ES cells from multipotent progenitor cells found in the adult; these only form a limited number of cell types. When given no stimuli for differentiation, (i.e. when grown in vitro), ES cells maintain pluripotency through multiple cell divisions. The presence of pluripotent adult stem cells remains a subject of scientific debate; however, research has demonstrated that pluripotent stem cells can be directly generated from adult fibroblast cultures. Because of their plasticity and potentially unlimited capacity for self-renewal, ES cell therapies have been proposed for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement after injury or disease. However, to date, no approved medical treatments have been derived from embryonic stem cell research. Adult stem cells and cord blood stems cells have thus far been the only stem cells used to successfully treat any diseases. Diseases treated by these non-embryonic stem cells include a number of blood and immune-system related genetic diseases, cancers, and disorders; juvenile diabetes; Parkinson's; blindness and spinal cord injuries. Besides the ethical concerns of stem cell therapy, there is a technical problem of graft-versus-host disease associated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation. However, these problems associated with histocompatibility may be solved using autologous donor adult stem cells or via therapeutic cloning.