Works Cited/ Consulted

Works Cited

Anderson, Ryan T. “The End of the Stem Cell Wars.” Weekly Standards 13.12 (2007): 22-25. SIRS Discoverer. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://sks.sirs.com/. This magazine article is a secondary source written by Ryan Anderson at “The Weekly Standard,” a magazine that covers major controversial issues and which is quoted by many politicians. Mr. Anderson, editor of Public Discourse: Ethics, Law, and the Common Good, the online journal of the Witherspoon Institute of Princeton, NJ, is claiming that leading scientists have concluded that they can successfully use stem cells without using human embryos. They use adult stem cells rather than extracting human fetus cells which is seen to be more ethical. This source is being used to argue that stem cells can be very beneficial even without harming tissue cells. The limitation of this article is that Anderson did not include the possible cost of this treatment, which is a huge factor if doctors practice it.

Desmond, Joan Frawley. “Anti-Science?” Chrisis Magazine Jan. 2006: 24-31. SIRS Discoverer. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://sks.sirs.com/>. This magazine article, which is a secondary source, was written by Joan Frawley Desmond in Chrisis Magazine, an educational website that uses media and technology to bring together the ideas of Catholicism to business, politics, culture, and family life. This article criticizes the individuals who are against stem cell research. He argues that researchers wait, while thousands of Americans die from diseases that could be treatable with stem cells. This source is being used because it argues why doctors should use stem cells since it can become a life saving cure. This article does address some negatives to stem cell research but does not support it with much detail.

Kurtzberg, Joanne, MD. “Stem Cell Fraud.”  60 Minutes. CBS News. 8 Jan. 2012. Television. This interview, which is a primary source, was conducted on the TV show “60 Minutes”, one of the most popular television broadcasts winning more Emmy awards than any other broadcasting show. This interview is with Joanne Kurtzberg, MD, Translational Cell Therapy Program Co-Director and Director of the Stem Cell Laboratory at Duke University. In the interview, Dr. Kurtzberg talks about the idea of stem cell fraud, which is when a third party claims to have a cure for major diseases and injects non FDA approved treatments into patients. This information will be used to confirm that doctors do not currently have enough knowledge to use stem cells as a treatment but they will be useful in about ten years. This interview did not mention if researchers will find a cure for cancer using stem cells.

Morris, Jonathan. “Ethics and Politics of Stem Cell Research.” The Ethics of Biotechnology: n. pag. Science Online. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://www.fofweb.com/​Science/​default.asp>. This magazine article is a secondary source written by Jonathan Morris, Author of many science-related books like his most famous one “Doctor Who”. In this article, Morris gives an overview along with a background on the politics and ethics of the stem cell debate. He proposes that there are unethical techniques when it comes to researching with stem cells which requires sacrificing a 4-7 day old human fetus. For example, embryonic stem cells, which are located in the human embryo, are seen as most unethical but has had the most success in the clinical research.  This source is going to be used because he includes useful information. For example, stem cells are used to repair damaged tissues, which happens when somebody has cancer. This article does not address whether most doctors are for or against the use of stem cells.

Farrar, William, Dr. Personal interview. 11 Apr. 2012.


Hemocytometer. July 2010. JPEG file. 

National Institutes of Health. "Stem Cell Basics." stemcells.nih.gov. National
Institutes of Health, 28 Apr. 2009. Web. 19 Feb. 2012. http://stemcells.nih.gov. This article is a secondary source sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, which is one of the largest research agencies in medicine and part of the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. This article gives the basics on stem cells, most importantly embryonic stem cells, which are seen as the most unethical. This website also gives alternatives to embryonic stem cells that are much more ethical like adult stem cells which do not require the sacrifice of a human embryo. This source will be used to show that there are ethical alternatives to embryonic stem cell research, which will help with the argument that stem cell research should be conducted. The limitation of this article is that it does not contain information against stem cell research to show both sides of the debate.

NewsRX.com. “Cancer Research; Stem cell feature may promote initiation and progression of tumors.” Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week 7 Jan. 2006: n. pag. eLibrary Curriculum Edition. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://elibrary.bigchalk.com>. This journal article is a secondary source published by NewsRx, one of the largest producers of health news and rated number two among the Top Science Publications in Biology and ​Physiology by Google. This article contains information that goes against using stem cell research. According to researchers at Colombia Medical Center, scientists think that stem cells may institute the growth of cancerous tumors.  This source will be used because it contains information that can be beneficial for the counter argument since it points out potential drawbacks to stem cell research. This journal article does include the positives of stem cell research therefore there is a bias only focusing on one side of the argument.

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. "Division of Surgical
     Oncology." osu.edu. N.p., 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.
     <http://surgery.osu.edu/oncology/>.

Works Consulted

“Stem Cell Research: Prospects and Problems.” Issues in Law & Medicine 20.1 (2004): 83. eLibrary Curriculum Edition. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/​>. This journal article is a secondary source sponsored by Issues in Law & Medicine, which covers legal and ethical issues in the delivery of medical care. This scientific journal points out the negatives of stem cell research, which can be useful to understand both sides of the argument. For example, if doctors do find cures for major diseases using stem cells, not many patients will be able to utilize this since the cost will be so extraordinarily high. This article will be useful because it explains the potential drawbacks, which include the cost of the stem cell procedure, which many people might have forgotten about. This article will be very beneficial it contains information for the counter-argument showing that not everyone will be able to afford this treatment if it is found.

Weissman, Irv. “The Politics and Promise of Stem Cell Research.” Stanford School of Medicine Medcast. Stanford University School of Medicine:. 8 July 2008. http://med.stanford.edu/​ . Web. 7 Feb. 2012. <http://stemcell.stanford.edu/​news/​irv_weissman_video.html>. This lecture was presented the Direcor of the Stanford Institute of Stem Cell Biology, Irv Weissman, who is also Professor of Pathology and Developmental Biology at Stanford.  He explains the current knowledge of stem cells and mentions that scientists have the potential to use them to cure Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and even cancer. Dr. Weissman also mentions that once researchers have enough information through clinical trials, stem cell treatment will be one of the biggest medical breakthroughs in history. This lecture will be used to establish a position on the stem cell debate. After watching this lecture, I support using stem cells because they can save thousands of lives in the future. The limitation of this information is that Dr. Weissman left out how long it would be until doctors have enough information on stem cells to use them as treatment.

Weissman, Irving L. “Stem cells--scientific, medical, and political issues.” The New England Journal of Medicine 20 (May 2002): 1576. Rpt. in Stem cells--scientific, medical, and political issues. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. eLibrary Curriculum Edition. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://elibrary.bigchalk.com>. This journal article is a primary source written by Irving Weissman M.D , a professor of Pathology and Developmental Biology at Stanford University. This article gives an overview of what stem cells are and how they can be used (Embryonic, Fetal, Adult). Dr. Weissman mentions that using adult stem cells is much more ethical since no human fetus is killed while extracting the cells. This article will be used because the research was conducted by the author and will be very good evidence for my overall argument that doctors should conduct stem cell research but not if human fetus’ are sacrificed in the process. This article does not address its connection with cancer but does contain the ethics on using stem cells in general.