Everything you need to know about stem cells
Recently, there have been a lot of speculations about stem cells and their ethicality. The main question is: “Is it ethical to kill an embryo in order to procure stem cells where that embryo has a potential to grow into a human being?” To answer this question we first need to understand what are stem cells? What benefits do they provide us with? What are some disadvantages associated? Can they be used to treat a person who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness like cancer or an organ failure? So let us begin with some basics. Stem cells are pluripotent cells, that is, they have an ability to develop into an organism. A zygote, product of a sperm and an ovum fusion, is a classic example of an undifferentiated stem cell. A zygote is a single undifferentiated cell which divides itself to form an embryo. The undifferentiated cells found in an embryo are called the Embryonic stem cells. As the embryo enters its eighth week it is called as a fetus. Here, the stem cells begin...