Have any statistics or facts about stem cell research? Please clarify for me?

Question

So what i know is:

----it kills an embryo to retrieve the cells

----it cures diseases, and helps repair things in the body if they have a lack of a certain cell

----they can turn into any kind of cell.

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STILL WANT TO KNOW IS:

---what determines which baby will be killed? does the mother decide? or the government

---how do doctors retrieve the cell? (what process)

--- AND PLEASE INCLUDE ANY STATISTICS OR FACTS AND A SOURCE PLEASE!!!

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( i figured the capitals would get your attention)

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Answer 1

hi,  i believe some of your inititial assumptions are incorrect regarding embryonic stem cells.

----it kills an embryo to retrieve the cells:

With Invitro vitro fertilization (IVF), eggs from an infertile woman are taken from her ovaries, with the ultimate intent of her becoming pregnant.  the eggs are fertilized with male sperm, and then one is placed back inside her uterus.  doctors usually take more than one egg from the female to increase the likelihood of success.  also, since the process of taking the eggs is a probably painful to the woman, they only want to do it once. But they do take more than one egg.  So, with IVF, no embryo is killed, it is actually created, and then 2-5 days later, it is transfered to the uterus, to develope.

however, lets us imagine that 100 eggs were taken from the ovary.  and let's imagine that the success rate for fertilization was 100%.  Certainly the woman can't have 100 pre-embryo's growing inside her uterus.  sometimes, doctors will transplant more than one  (usually no more than three) so the question becomes... what to do with the other 97 eggs?  fertilized eggs can be frozen.  but can they be used for research purposes?  that is the question which causes many people to take different sides of questions like "where does life begin, should the government support embryonic stem cell studies with tax payers money (even though some disagree with it), is it ethical to modify embryonic stems cells to further existing life?"

----it cures diseases, and helps repair things in the body if they have a lack of a certain cell:

scientist don't know if embryonic stem cells work in HUMANS, because it has never been done before.  so far, it has worked in mice, which is what makes scientist hopeful.

----they can turn into any kind of cell:

again, scientists don't know for sure, but it seems likely that when an embryonic stem cell is placed in the right environment it will turn into any kind of cell.  scientists are still working out what environmental ingredients are necessary for that to occur.  

STILL WANT TO KNOW IS:

---what determines which baby will be killed? does the mother decide? or the government:

the purpose of IVF is to create life.  not to kill a baby.  the government has created laws to allow this procedure to occur.  but the goverment is not specialized in determining which pre-embryo is the best candidate to create life.  only a speacialized team of doctors and technicians are smart enough to make that decision.  follow my links to find out more about what decisions doctors make regarding how pre-embryo's are chosen for best for implantation results.

---how do doctors retrieve the cell? (what process):

"The technique mostly succeeds an ovarian stimulation, where multiple oocytes are manipulated to mature. The retrieval is performed with a needle, piercing through the vaginal wall. It is guided by ultrasound to reach the ovaries, where it can aspirate follicular material. This material can then be purified of ova.

The process takes about 20 minutes and is usually done under conscious sedation or general anesthesia."

--- AND PLEASE INCLUDE ANY STATISTICS OR FACTS AND A SOURCE PLEASE!!!:

i am including a few reference sites where you can find some interesting statistics and facts.

best to you, and don't forget to spread the good karma!

Answer 2

Well, first, not all stem cells involve killing an embryo.  For example, cord blood is donated after a live healthy birth.  Stem cells are harvested from adult's bone marrow and peripheral blood stream with nothing more than a lil inconvience.  Stem cells can also be obtained from adult skin, and every other organ

You may want to check out http://www.marrow.org for some other sources of stem cells that you are forgetting

As far as which embryos are used in embryonic stem cells, they are either going to be left over ivf embryos or surgically removed fetus.  That decision would be based on the health of the embryo after the mother decided it wasnt wanted.