Americans found in favor of stem cell research for treatment of chronic diseases
It
is a known fact that embryonic stem cells have raised a political controversy
for about last two decades. This controversy has been regarding the use of
embryonic stem cells. Many politicians claim that the scientists kill human
embryo for the sake of their stem cell treatment.
However, scientists have said that those embryos are the fertilized eggs donated
by couples that have to be discarded otherwise. Little contribution has been
made by the researchers of University of Nevada to resolve this dispute. A new
dissertation has been done in this field named as Attitude of America toward
human embryonic cell research.
The stem cell news was published in the journal of Natural biotechnology. The sample of the study was US citizens and sample unit was 2295 respondents. Some of the crucial findings of the study were as follows –
ü The therapeutic cloning is banned in USA. It implies the nuclear transfer of the genes of the patients. After the study it was found that about two-third of the people were there who were in favor of this cloning and only one in six did not give approval. They were found in favor of using stem cells for the treatment of cancer and heart disease.
ü Moreover, people also did not find the stem cell research useful for the cosmetic purposes as half of them refused while quarter of them showed approval.
The most interesting part of the research as observed by a sociologist named Evans is that the respondents preferred their own opinion rather than concerning the views of church and several other authorities.
ü According to Evans, majority of the people, approximately two third of them prefer following own opinion to decide whether such treatments are right or not. The ratio of people who gave more importance to the Church rather than themselves was just 4 percent. Those who were committed Catholics found deferring to the church on such matters.
ü The outcome of the study was- in spite of the strong opposition by the Catholic Church there were a large number of supporters in favor of use of stem cells. Even among those who were in the disapproving group, churchgoing women were found to be more in favor rather than in opposition.
However, it was not a reliable approach to know public opinion regarding this matter. In its place, a systemic survey research could have helped more.
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