Ethics

Bone marrow transplants have been successfully carried out for a number of years with little objection about the ethics of the procedure.The use of embryonic stem cells raises some ethical questions.Embryos left over from fertility treatment were traditionally used but more recently embryos are being created specifically as a source of stem cells.The removal of stem cells from the embryos usually results in the destruction of the embryo.Since the embryo is capable of growing into a human being, questions arise about the rights of the embryo as a potential human being and who owns the genetic material.The use of umbilical cord stem cells overcomes these objections, but these stem cells are multipotent whereas embryonic stem cells are pluripotent.Artificially transforming adult stem cells into pluripotent stem cells by genetically modifying the cells silences some of these objections. These cells are known as induced pluripotent stem cells.