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AND CLONING
(MBuddStud, 2009). He had also completed two other Master Degrees, one from Sikkim Manipal
University (MBAIT, 2007) while the other from Manipal University (MBBS-2000, MD in Community
Ms. Romila Syangden is a Hospital Administration professional who has also a keen passion for
Sikkim Manipal University of Health, Medical and Technological Sciences, Sikkim, India
Email: ankurbarua26@yahoo.com
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BIOETHICS OF STEM CELL RESEARCH AND CLONING
SYNOPSIS
Introduction
Stem cells are blank cells that have the potential to develop into any type of cell in the body. Scientists
are trying to harvest the cells before they have differentiated, then coax them into becoming certain
types. These cell lines are colonies of embryonic stem cells of different types. There is a rapid and
astonishing progress in the field of cloning since the making of “Dolly” – the first cloned sheep, a few
years ago.
The Stem Cell Research may lead to cloning a whole human being. In that case, if we can accept
surrogate motherhood as an ethically acceptable process, cloning is more or less the same. Cloned
individuals need not be necessarily being identified with the donor. Even identical twins are different
from each other, influenced by environment and other psycho-social factors. During cloning of various
organs and bone marrow transplants, these organs would be an exact genetic match of the recipient
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Disadvantages of Stem Cell Research and Cloning Technology
Every form of reproductive technology raises the question of human values, dignity, worth, jurisdictional
rights. A person should not be used as a mere mechanical instrument. Human being is an unrepeatable
entity. Cloned embryo may undergo mutation and can lead to the creation of a monster instead of a
human being. Natural birth is a product of human love. In cloning, the values of love and human
procreation are missing. It violates the principle of equality among human beings and principle of non-
Conclusions
The clone’s sense of self-worth or individuality or dignity would be difficult to sustain. From the religious
perspectives Judaism and Islam support most forms of Stem Cell Research and Cloning. The Vatican has
expressed sadness and dismay at the proposal for this human cloning venture by stating that this
process of cloning violates the right of a human being to be conceived in human way. Buddhist Bioethics
also discourages cloning technology due to the fact that there is no limit to human ambitions and no
strict judicious control over Stem Cell Research and Cloning in many countries of the world.
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BIOETHICS OF STEM CELL RESEARCH AND CLONING
INTRODUCTION
Stem cells are blank cells that have the potential to develop into any type of cell in the body. Scientists
are trying to harvest the cells before they have differentiated, then coax them into becoming certain
types. These cell lines are colonies of embryonic stem cells of different types. Stem cells are one of the
human body's master cells, with the ability to grow into any one of the body's more than 200 cell types.
All stem cells are unspecialized (undifferentiated) cells that are characteristically of the same family type
(lineage). They retain the ability to divide throughout life and give rise to cells that can become highly
specialized and take the place of cells that die or are lost.
Stem cells contribute to the body's ability to renew and repair its tissues. Unlike mature cells, which are
permanently committed to their fate, stem cells can both renew themselves as well as create new cells
Bone marrow stem cells, for example, are the most primitive cells in the marrow. From them all the
various types of blood cells are descended. Bone marrow stem-cell transfusions (or transplants) were
The concept of this kind of research was believed to be in the minds of the Indians since long back. The
Adi-Parva of Mahabharata gives clear indication that the kauravas were born from the stem cells.
Human cloning means the asexual replication of a human individual by taking of cells with genetic
materials and cultivation of these cells through egg, embryo and finally into human being.
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There is a rapid and astonishing progress in the field of cloning since the making of “Dolly” – the first
cloned sheep, a few years ago. “George” and “Charlie”, the two identical, genetically engineered calves
that could make medicines in their milk were also successfully created. While “dolly” was cloned from a
cell taken from an adult mammal, “Charlie” and “George” were cloned from cells taken from fetuses
OBJECTIVES
(1) To study the various ethical issues related to Stem Cell Research and Cloning.
(2) To study the theological aspects of Stem Cell Research and Cloning.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Broadly speaking, a stem cell is one that–in the course of cell division and increase in the numbers of
cells–is able to reproduce itself and also mature into various specialized types of cells. The stem cell with
the greatest potential (totipotential) is the fertilized egg cell, which is capable of developing into a
complete organism.
According to the usual–but actually very doubtful–explanation, the fertilized egg cell has totipotential up
to the stage of division into eight cells, and in later stages the cells retain only "pluripotential." That is,
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they can form many different types of tissues, but not the complete organism. Embryonic stem cells–
that is, those 50 cells within a blastocyst, which then continue to develop into the embryo proper–have
this pluripotential. In the course of further specialization, stem cells of individual tissues are formed,
such as that of the bone marrow, from which all the other kinds of blood cells develop.
Behind this description lies the conception that a linear process of differentiation is played out, in the
development of the individual, toward increasingly "mature," specialized cells in the individual tissues,
from totipotentiality to tissue specificity. This process is supposed to run only forward, but never
backward. That is, as soon as a cell has reached a certain degree of "maturity," the way back to earlier
stages of development is closed off. So it is evident that a stem cell’s capacity to perform is increasingly
limited to specific functions, and it loses, correspondingly, the manifold capabilities still present in
According to latest reports, however, this dogma of developmental biology does not hold. Evidently,
tissue-specific stem cells have the ability–as has been impressively demonstrated in experiments with
animals–to "transdifferentiate" themselves when in a different environment–that is, to take on the cell
functions of the new tissue. Thus, neuronal stem cells of mice have transformed themselves into blood
stem cells and produced blood cells. Indeed, there are indications of another capability of adult stem
cells: Apparently they have the potential to be "reprogrammed." Not only can they adjust to the specific
conditions of a new tissue environment, but they can even assume more generalized, earlier levels of
development, so that it even appears possible that they become totipotent again.
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Concept of Stem Cell Research and Cloning
Stem cells can divide for an infinite period of time when being grown outside of the body, and which can
differentiate into various types of specialized cells. When fertilization of an egg with sperm occurs, the
resulting fertilized cell has the capability to form an entire organism. The cell is described as being
totipotent (having total potential). After some time, as rounds of cell division occur, specialization of
cells occurs. But, early in fetal development, before the developing mass of cells attaches itself to the
wall of the uterus, some cells still retain the ability to form virtually every type of cell in the body. These
cells are pluripotent (capable of differentiating into many types of cells but not all types required for
fetal development). With continued fetal development, further specialization of pluripotent stem cells
results in multipotent stem cells--cells that give rise to cells having a particular function, such as blood
cells and various types of skin cells. Stem Cell Research is concerned primarily with the pluripotent cells.
The field is relatively new. James Thomson reported in Science in late 1998 his success in maintaining
Stem cells can be obtained from human embryos at the so-called blastocyst stage (a stage very early in
fetal development, only a few division cycles after fertilization). As well, cells can be obtained from fetal
tissue from terminated pregnancies. The latter procedure has precipitated much discourse. In August
2001, United States president George W. Bush announced that he would support very limited federal
funding of research using stem cells from human embryos. It was a compromise that did not completely
Another potential means of obtaining pluripotent stem cells may be a technique called somatic cell
nuclear transfer. In the technique involves the physical removal of its nucleus from an egg cell. The
nucleus is the specialized area of the cell that contains the organized pieces of genetic material called
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the chromosomes. The material left behind in the egg cell contains nutrients and other energy-
producing materials necessary for development of the embryo. Then, a somatic cell--any cell other than
an egg or a sperm cell--is placed next to the denucleated egg cell, and the two cells are chemically fused
together. After a requisite number of cell divisions, pluripotent stem cells can be recovered and used.
Pluripotent stem cells are important to science and to advances in health care. At the most fundamental
level, study of these cells could advance the understanding of the processes of cellular development,
such as the orchestrated mechanisms by which genes are turned on and off during development and
growth. Some of the most serious medical conditions, such as cancer and birth defects, are due to
abnormal cell specialization and cell division. Pluripotent stem cells could also be used to screen new
drugs, eliminating the need to use living subjects for the early phases of drug discovery.
The most far-reaching potential application of the stem cells is the generation of cells and tissue that
could be used for so-called cell therapies. Potentially stem cells may function as a kind of universal
human donor cell, which could serve as raw material for whatever diseased cell requires replacing. Such
donor cells would have to be genetically engineered so as not to form the cell surface molecules that
would alert the recipient's immune system. The cells could be used for replacement of defective or
diseased cells without the danger of transplantation rejection that occurs presently. Potential
applications include the replacement of defective heart tissue and replacement of malfunctioning insulin
In the last several years, several lines of research have produced concrete results showing the potential
of stem cells in cell therapy. Genetic engineering of stem cells may be promising as a cancer eradication
strategy. In rats, neural stem cells genetically engineered to convert a compound into a cancer-killing
agent have been found to selectively target and destroy cancerous cells in the brain. Elsewhere, neural
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stem cells have also been shown capable of integration into the diseased retina of rats and of taking on
some of the characteristics of retinal cells. This holds the promise that stem cell therapy may aid in
repairing retinal damage. Other researchers have demonstrated, again in rats, that stem cells in the
brain were able to repair damaged areas and restore function when stimulated by a growth-inducing
protein. If replicated in humans, then stem cell treatments for stroke, nervous system and spinal cord
injury and diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's that are marked by degeneration of nerve cells.
Another application of stem cells has been to form a chimera—an animal that grows from an embryo in
which stem cells from another animal have been inserted. Some of the chimera's cells have one set of
parents, and some cells have another set of parents. "Knockout" mice, research animals lacking specific
genes, are chimeras. While theoretically conceivable, human chimeras are not contemplated.
Researchers have claimed success at reprogramming multipotent cells for a function other than that
they were programmed for. Specifically, adult skin cells from cattle were reverted to stem cells and then
transformed into heart cells. Other studies involved neural stem cells from mice and bone marrow cells
from rats have also indicated that functional reprogramming of adult cells may be feasible. These
breakthrough studies hold forth the potential of using cells from adults to treat diseases, rather than
There are several barriers to the use of adult stem cells at present. First of all, more knowledge of the
locations of adult stem cells is still required since these cells might not be present in all tissues of the
body. Secondly, adult stem cells are present in minute quantities, are difficult to isolate and their
number decreases with age. The time necessary to locate, harvest, and grow the cells to usable numbers
may be too long for practical purposes. Finally, adult stem cells may contain DNA abnormalities, which
have accumulated as a result of a lifetime of exposure to DNA-altering agents such as sunlight and toxic
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chemicals. Further research may overcome these limitations, allowing stem cells obtained from adults to
Stem cells from bone marrow can also, quite remarkably, give rise to non-marrow cells. In a 1999 report
in the journal Nature, scientists from Boston led by Dr. Louis M. Kunkel reported that they gave bone
marrow transplants from normal mice to dystrophic mice. Some 12 weeks later about 10% of the muscle
fibers in the diseased animals were making the correct form of dystrophin, the protein that is defective
in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This work suggests that bone marrow stem cells may offer new ways
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CONCLUSION FROM THE THEOLOGICAL ASPECT OF STEM CELL RESEARCH AND CLONING
From the religious perspectives, it is interesting to note that, the religions that have strong traditions of
legal and religious law, namely Judaism and, Islam support most forms of Stem Cell Research. These two
religions also support their beliefs on when life begins and Stem Cell Research by interpreting specific
religious texts. While the Catholic Church has put the issue of Stem Cell Research on the forefront of its
agenda, Pope John Paul II does not point to any specific biblical text that supports the Catholic Church’s
However, since religion can exert influence over the public and politicians, specifically, when it comes to
moral arguments; religions such as Judaism and Islam need to be more vocal in their support of Stem
Cell Research to balance out Catholicism’s almost blanket prohibition of the medical advance.
While science may never answer the question of when life begins, Catholicism, Judaism and Islam have
answered the question in some ways that support and in other ways that prohibit the use of stem cells,
even for therapeutic means. Since, there are no limits to human ambitions and no strict judicious
control over Stem Cell Research; cloning technology for any purpose is never encouraged according to
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