Final Post: Self Reflection

Exploring stem cell research with its issues and controversies has made me grow as a thinker. I have gained more knowledge from a scientific, political, moral, and religious perspective regarding the advancement of both embryonic and adult stem cell research. Also, I have grown to enjoy expressing myself and learning from other people as I have had many comments being made on each of my postings. I take pride and gratitude in writing everybody back, as I give my opinion and share my beliefs with others.
As far as research, I have learned how to distinguish creditable and non-creditable sources. There were times when my binary opposition was difficult to research because there were many sources of biased opinions. I know where to get my resources. Scholarly journals help, however, I've found many creditable internet sources from national news websites and even scholarly blogs. I have taken everything I've learned from these sources and applied it to my argument that stem cell research should be supported.
I have learned so much more about about scientific experimentation with stem cells. Because of this, I have a better knowledge of embryonic and adult stem cells. Upon all of my research regarding the scientific portion of stem cell research, I have discovered that there are many benefits that can be derived from this scientific experimentation. Also, prior to researching stem cell research, I had barely touched bases on my research of cloning. Now, I have a better knowledge of what cloning has done from a scientific perspective and what it can provide for the future, such as replicating human organs.
Along with the scientific standpoint of stem cell research, I've had a learning experience with seeing how religion affects the way people make decisions regarding certain topics such as scientific experimentation. From day 1, typing "religion and stem cell research" into a search engine, results posted titles such as, "Christians oppose scientists in stem cell research" and "Thou shall not kill." I knew how to define my binary opposition of stem cell research. As a Christian, I have related to people who believe that stem cell research can be immoral, but I believe that God works in mysterious ways. I believe that he gave a purpose to everybody living on this planet, and I believe God put scientists on this planet to discover cures to many diseases. Years ago, I believed stem cell research was wrong, but then I began to realize that stem cell research will bring many benefits and it can save lives.
From a broader perspective, researching religion vs. science opened many doors to me for exploring what people considered right and wrong based on their cultural predispositions. I looked at two main controversial topics that molded peoples negative views on stem cell research: embryos and cloning. Upon further review of embryos, I've learned that my topic to stem cell research parallels with the topic of abortion because people have different definitions of when life truly begins. Some people define embryos as living human beings, so when scientist extract stem cells from embryos , it can be the equivalent of killing humans. As far as cloning goes, people believe that replicating humans is wrong. I believe that this is wrong also, but after researching cloning, it has come to my attention that a full human body doesn't have to be replicated. Organs can be replicated and this can solve the problem of not having a consistent genotype when performing transplants. If someone needs a liver transplant, there would be more replicated livers for surgeons to work with when it comes to finding an anatomical match with the patient.
Before diving into a pool of scientific and religious standpoints on stem cell research, I didn't know the political aspects of this scientific experimentation. I didn't know how democrats and republicans felt about this scientific experimentation. I also didn't know how President Bush felt about embryonic stem cell research and what he's done to influence the advancement. It's better for me to know that most democrats support stem cell research while republicans are split because the standpoints of the majority political party will influence the rate at which stem cell research advances. I am aware that the 2008 presidential election will have a big impact on whether or whether not stem cell research will move forward in discovering cures to various diseases. Not only have I learned how to research more efficiently, but I've learned how do deal with other people's opinions.
Prior to researching, I was heavily influenced by my family and my closest friends when it came to controversial issues such as stem cell research. Now, I am less influenced by my family and peers, however I still do base my decisions on them. After researching, my authorities have become the creditable resources and the news. Furthermore, I have become more open minded and independent, so I consider myself a much stronger authority. I'm basing more of my decision of where I stand on stem cell research on what I have learned within the past couple of months because I've been able to isolate myself from my peers and family.
I end this post on my standpoint on stem cell research. I am still supportive of stem cell research. In fact, exploring various topics of stem cell research has made grow to support stem cell research even more. The world will be a better place with stem cell research. I can imagine that one day, I will need some sort of medicine to help me through the days when I get older. I'm not predicting I'll have Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, however it would be wonderful to know that there is some medicine out there that will help me live a better life. When I look at stem cell research, I can't help but think about the future generations. As my future children and grandchildren grow older, it would be wonderful to know that I supported something that gave them an advantage: The advantage of the cures derived from stem cell research.

Implications Post

As I continually research the controversies and issues behind the advancement in stem cell experimentation, I can't help but predict what the future holds. It seems to me that the issue regarding religion vs. science will never be resolved. Clearly, I have mentioned in my theory post that religion will hold back the advance of study in stem cell research. Several people will still oppose stem cell research because they will see such experimentation as "Playing God." Also, people will still oppose embryonic stem cell research because they define embryos as human beings. Cloning will always be looked at as something immoral and unnatural.
Even though I see a good amount of opposition in the future, I predict that stem cell research will still advance. Upon researching and discovering all the benefits that can be derived from stem cell research, such as cures to various diseases, I feel like these benefits cannot be forever ignored. There will come a point when trends in opposition will begin to change. Education has become more important over the past decades and as the importance increases, knowledge of what stem cell research holds increases. People will become more open minded from the increase of importance in education. So, instead of people judging scientific experimentation from other people, they will become more independent as they make their own theories and opinions based on what they have learned.
Since the importance of education will increase and there will be an advancement in stem cell research, I predict that cures will be made. I can say this confidently because technology increases, and with intelligent scientists, new discoveries will be made. Even if cures aren't discovered as soon as scientists predict, scientist will have a better knowledge of the cellular behavior of diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and cancer. This could possibly serve as a template to discovering cures.
I end this post by saying that I don't write based on my opinion nor what I want out of stem cell research. I'm giving a critical analysis of why stem cell research will advance. I truly believe that the increase in the importance in education and technology will drive stem cell research to success.

Links Post

To all my viewers who wish to know more beyond stem cell research and its issues discussed in this blog , I have provided some external links that will provide you with additional and extensive information regarding both sides. Here they are (5 sites are described in detail):

http://www.csicop.org/scienceandmedia/stem-cell/2007.html: This website is strictly devoted to the different political standpoints regarding stem cell research. The site specifically goes into detail about democrats, republicans, and President Bush's standpoints and actions on embryonic stem cell research. Also, there are numerous amounts of statistics including data tables, line charts, and bar graphs that demonstrate different political views. Examples are surveys dealing with how many politicians believe embryonic stem cell research is morally right.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/res_stem.htm: This site touches bases on the background information on stem cell research. There's more of an emphasis of embryonic stem cells versus adult stem cells. Also, there's a link that provides information as to what President Bush intends on doing regarding stem cell research. A huge benefit of this site is the fact that it is organized. The site is in an outline formation that provides links that demonstrates both sides of the argument of stem cell research.

http://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=1423&department=CWA&categoryid=life: This website was created from an organization known as Concerned Women of America. These people challenge embryonic stem cell research because they feel it is ethically wrong to mistreat the "tiniest humans." Clearly, they label embryos as human beings. This site provides background information, governmental laws that relate to stem cell research, and alternatives to embryonic stem cell research, such as adult stem cell research.

http://www.newsbatch.com/stemcells.htm: This site is very beneficial for setting a foundation of getting to know the background information regarding stem cell research. This informative site includes answers to many frequently asked questions such as, "What are stem cells?" and "What's the controversy?". This site also provides the different political standings dealing with stem cell research.

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=2517: This site explains that the majority of Americans approve stem cell research due to all the benefits. This brief article mentions 54% of Americans say stem cell research is morally fine. Although this article is short, it provides information as to what age range participated in this survey and what influence people's decisions dealing with supporting or rejecting stem cell research, such as religion.

Additional Sites that Explains the Favoring of Stem Cell Research
http://people-press.org/commentary/display.php3?AnalysisID=111
http://www.curesforcalifornia.com/page.php?id=176
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/poll010626.html

Additional Sites that Explain the Opposition of Stem Cell Research
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007120.htm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8232524/
http://www.religioustolerance.org/res_stem5.htm

Additional Sites Regarding News in Stem Cell Research
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/Science/Stem_Cell_Research
http://www.aaas.org/spp/cstc/briefs/stemcells/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/08/20010809-2.html

Bonus Sites: Fun Facts about Stem Cell Research
http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/stemcells.html
http://www.churchsolutionsmag.com/articles/621/71h1510454451350.html

Bonus Sites: Political Cartoons Dealing with Stem Cell Research
http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/bysubject/stemcell/index.php
http://www.intoon.com/cartoons.cfm/action/browse/startdate/07-01-2006/id/21024
http://qhr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/16/1/61

Class-links Post

Something that I find very important and take serious is the fact that I have other personal resources so that I can learn more about my topic of stem cell research. In particular, I have found three blogs that interest me and they are worth visiting. Primarily, similar to my blog, trailrunner89's blog discusses the issues behind stem cell research, such as embryos being defined as human beings and religion vs. science. Trailrunner89 successfully argues in favor of stem cell research as she provides outside resources and captivates her audience as this blog contains many comments.
Through the course of researching the controversies behind the advanced reliance in stem cells, it has come to my attention that abortion and stem cell research parallel each other through issues concerning the treatment of embryos. Because of this, I have been able to research through blogs regarding abortion and relate certain topics to stem cell research. HotShot's blog goes into detail of the scientific explanation of where life begins and this person also gives the political aspect behind abortion. HotShot is pro-choice and this blog is definitely worth visiting as it is informative and the political cartoons are very appealing. Also, KGood's blog is a good resource regarding abortion. Like HotShot, KGoods is pro-choice. He presents both sides to abortion. Specifically, he mentions how the church is involved in abortion and how the government deals with the whole debate regarding abortion.