What is an Embryo in Embryonic Stem Cell Research Essay Example For Students

What is an Embryo in Embryonic Stem Cell Research? Essay Stem argumentative persuasive What is an Embryo in Embryonic Stem Cell Research? Essay Though produced in a new and bizarre manner, a cloned embryo grows and develops as a living organism in the same way as one produced by fertilization. Writes Professor Lee Silver of Princeton University: Cloned children will be full-fledged human beings, indistinguishable in biological terms from all other members of the species. Thus, the notion of a soulless clone has no basis in reality (Remaking Eden: Cloning and Beyond in a Brave New World, New York: Avon Books 1997, p. 107). To claim that an embryo produced by cloning is not really an embryo, in order to justify destructive experimentation on it, is arbitrary and self-serving (Embryologist Jonathan Van Blerkom of University of Colorado, in American Medical News, Feb. We will write a custom essay on What is an Embryo in Embryonic Stem Cell Research? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now 23, 1998, p. 32). Some proponents of destructive embryo research try to deny moral status to all early human embryos. They have coined the term pre-embryo to describe human embryos in the first two weeks of development, seeking to justify destructive experimentation during this early stage. However, the term and concept of pre-embryo has never been accepted by Congress, the National Institutes of Healths Human Embryo Research Panel, or the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, and is rejected by contemporary textbooks on embryology. The following references illustrate the fact that a new human embryo, the starting point for a human life, comes into existence with the formation of the one-celled zygote: * * * Development of the embryo begins at Stage 1 when a sperm fertilizes an oocyte and together they form a zygote. England, Marjorie A. Life Before Birth. 2nd ed. England: Mosby-Wolfe, 1996, p.31 * * * Human development begins after the union of male and female gametes or germ cells during a process known as fertilization (conception). Fertilization is a sequence of events that begins with the contact of a sperm (spermatozoon) with a secondary oocyte (ovum) and ends with the fusion of their pronuclei (the haploid nuclei of the sperm and ovum) and the mingling of their chromosomes to form a new cell. This fertilized ovum, known as a zygote, is a large diploid cell that is the beginning, or primordium, of a human being. Moore, Keith L. Essentials of Human Embryology. Toronto: B.C. Decker Inc, 1988, p. 2 * * * Embryo: the developing organism from the time of fertilization until significant differentiation has occurred, when the organism becomes known as a fetus. Cloning Human Beings. Report and Recommendations of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission. Rockville, MD: GPO, 1997, Appendix-2. * * * Embryo: An organism in the earliest stage of development; in a man, from the time of conception to the end of the second month in the uterus. Dox, Ida G. et al. The Harper Collins Illustrated Medical Dictionary. New York: Harper Perennial, 1993, p. 146 * * * Embryo: The early developing fertilized egg that is growing into another individual of the species. In man the term embryo is usually restricted to the period of development from fertilization until the end of the eighth week of pregnancy. Walters, William and Singer, Peter (eds. ). Test-Tube Babies. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1982, p. 160 * * * The development of a human being begins with fertilization, a process by which two highly specialized cells, the spermatozoon from the male and the oocyte from the female, unite to give rise to a new organism, the zygote. Langman, Jan. Medical Embryology. 3rd edition. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1975, p. 3 * * * Embryo: The developing individual between the union of the germ cells and the completion of the organs which characterize its body when it becomes a separate organism. At the moment the sperm cell of the human male meets the ovum of the female and the union results in a fertilized ovum (zygote), a new life has begun. The term embryo covers the several stages of early development from conception to the ninth or tenth week of life. .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233 , .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233 .postImageUrl , .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233 , .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233:hover , .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233:visited , .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233:active { border:0!important; } .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233:active , .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233 .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uaf8e1ea32a0a979bdcceb32e0bde7233:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Reading between the lines EssayConsidine, Douglas (ed. ). Van Nostrands Scientific Encyclopedia. 5th edition. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1976, p. 943 * * * I would say that among most .