Stem cells have the great potential to be very beneficial to scientist in finding treatment for diseases like Parkinson’s Disease (PD). This research has so much potential because they have only just begun working with stem cells. With the great potential that stem cells hold there is still a large barrier between the promise of stem cells and the realization of their use. Looking into human stem cells, scientist are able to come up with new ways to create neurons that produce dopamine from our stems cells that could possibly be transplanted into humans with PD. (Stem Cells: Their Potential for Treating Parkinson’s Disease) “The idea is that the successful generation of an unlimited supply of dopamine neurons could make neurotransplantation widely available for Parkinson’s patients at some point in the future”. (Parkinson's May Be the First Disease Cured Through Stem Cell Research)

One weakness of stem cells is the unknown. There has not been enough research out there to give people answers if they will help with the treatment/cure of PD or any other disease. Looking at it from the other side, maybe scientist would learn that using stem cells is not going to help treat PD and be harmful to patients. To add to that there are people that think that scientist are just wasting their time and stem cells on research that is potentially not ethical. Scientist have not been given a chance to fully research stem cells without criticism. The idea of taking one life in order to help another life is hard for people to understand. I do not know if the debate will ever end about the embryonic stem cells and if they are in fact a considered a human being.

Of course patients suffering from PD are potential stakeholders, along with people who are carries of this disease. If stem cells is the answer to help treat this disease, I would think that most patients would be all for the treatment, even if it means using stem cells. Not only are the patients benefiting but scientist and researchers, will know more about PD and this information could be useful in helping treat other diseases. And our doctors, the more informant they receive from the researchers the more the doctors can pass on to their patients. In the long run, it seems that many people could possible benefit if stem cells turn out to be as beneficial as them say. While looking into PD, I found out there are many different types of research being done. Last week I looked into he use of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells which seemed to be an interesting alterative. These cells are made from skin biopsies from Parkinson’s patients Researcher want to use these cells to develop personalized treatments for people with PD. (Reprogramming: how to turn any cell of the body into a pluripotent stem cell) This option doesn’t seem to be considered unethical, but they do not know if it is a better option. It is great that there is so much research going on, but I do not think of fair is that some researchers are not give a fair chance to perform their research because there is so much criticism about the ethical aspects of treatment options of using stem cells. Scientist are not always given support and need to look to private donations in order to perform their job.

Science is the study of discovery, and with this discovery comes differences in opinions that lead to conflict. Conflict is