Importance of Embryonic and Adult Stem Cell Researches - Research Paper Example

Potential misuse of the outcomes and applications of these researches have been highlighted.Stem cell research has attracted much attention from all over the world for its immense potential in improving and regulating a variety of body functions. Stem cells are those groups of cells which can generate specialized cells and organs that have specific functions to perform. Two main sources of stem cells include embryos during the early phase of embryonic development and adult stem cells. Stem cells from both these sources have the potential to grow into or create specific cell types.

History of stem cell research can be traced the back the to late 1800s at which time scientists were experimenting with mammalian egg fertilization processes, but achieved success only in 1959 with the successful production of rabbits through in-vitro fertilization. This paved way for fertilization of human eggs. The first in-vitro fertilization of human eggs was successfully achieved in 1981 in the United States (Viegas, 2003). Numerous groundbreaking discoveries have been made through research conducted all over the world.

These researches have uncovered the immense potential these stem cells have on human life. However, the research field also faces many economic, religious, ethical and moral dilemmas and limitations from federal policies in the West and also East. Stem cell research is impacted at an international level because most of the researches are funded from Western Nations.The source for embryonic stem cells is the human embryo which is not more than 5 days old; this stage is commonly referred to as the blastocyst phase.

This embryo is derived from in-vitro fertilization (IVF) at clinics where the fertilization process is carried out in a test tube and then implanted into the womb of a woman. In the normal pregnancy, blastocyst stage continues till the 10th week of gestation after all major organs are created. The blastocyst consists of the inner cell mass or embryoblast and outer cell mass or trophoblast.