The issue of stem cells provokes many discussions both in scholarly circles and among non-scientific population. However, the researches on stem cells prove the necessity of their introduction into medicine and creation of treatments for many illnesses (Bianco et al., 2014). Despite numerous researches and articles, people share some misconceptions which make them oppose this discovery.
One of the common misconceptions is that stem cells research violates ethical principles since it uses embryonic stem cells or the so-called fetus. However, many institutions use adult stem cells. The investigations that involve embryonic stem cells are still legal. They use embryos left after in vitro fertilizations or the donated ones (“Myths and misconceptions of stem cell research,” 2017). These embryos are often with genetic deficiencies and would have been destroyed unless used for research. Besides, the research is often governmentally funded. This fact disapproves the supposed illegal nature of stem cells research.
One more misconception is linking stem cell research with cloning ((“Myths and misconceptions of stem cell research,” 2017). However, it should be noted that stem cell research does not allow any reproduction. Some other misconceptions are related to the effect that stem cell therapy has. Many people believe that its effectiveness is not verified. Nevertheless, it is not true. The efficiency of stem cell therapy has been substantiated by many researches (Bianco et al., 2014) and thus can be applied in various spheres of healthcare.
References
Bianco, P., Cao, X., Frenette, P.S., Mao, J.J., Robey, P.J., Simmons, P.J., & Wang, C.Y. (2014). The meaning, the sense and the significance: Translating the science of mesenchymal stem cells into medicine. Nature Medicine, 19(1), 35-42. doi: 10.1038/nm.3028