This article was very helpful when researching the pros of the usage of adult stem cells versus embryonic. It is known that a lot of people have previously favored embryonic stem cells rather than adult because it was believed that embryonic stem cells multiply in a greater magnitude compared to adult stem cells. Previous knowledge told us that embryonic could multiply over 200 doublings of the population before the cells started to die. Scientists measure the age of groups of cells by looking at their population’s doubling rate. The age of the cells indicate the strength of the cells and the probability of a successful treatment. A study done at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in 2005 showed us that adult stem cells are capable of multiplying to the same capacity as embryonic, meaning that adult stem cells are just as effective. Another point to consider is the possibility of rejection. When using embryonic stem cells there is a possibility that the patient given the stem cells will reject them because of their unfamiliar nature. With the use of adult stem cells the cells are taken from the patient and will not be foreign to their immune system, making rejection less likely. If it is possible that adult stem cells have the capability to work just as well as embryonic stem cells then I think we should put our time and effort into researching those possibilities. Adult stem cells can further our research, knowledge and treatment just as well as embryonic. I think the most reasonable thing to do is put our funding into the further researching of adult stem cells and avoid this controversy all together. If something is believed to be unethical to many groups of people it will be difficult to make it possible to research. Adult stem cell research is working and there is no controversy behind it so why not use what we already know can work?
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