Stem Cells Stem cells are immature cells that have not turned into specific cells yet; they haven’t become blood or skin, or anything else Stem cells have the ability to turn into any type of cell in the body

Sources  Excess in vitro fertilization embryos  Aborted fetuses  Cloned embryos  Stem-cells can also be derived from certain adult tissues, but many scientists think that they are less promising

Potential  Stem cells could change the face of medicine  Once further studied, stem cells have the potential to replace or fortify any type of tissue in humans  They could possibly treat all kinds of diseases such as heart disease and diabetes

Ethics  In order to create stem cells, human embryos must be destroyed  Many people find harvesting unborn human cells and destroying embryos and fetuses immoral

Federal Funding  Many want to continue this possibly life saving research, and think that federal funds are necessary to help it along  Others are appalled by the idea of stem cell research, and don’t want the government to have anything to do with the destroying of embryos