Regenerative Medicine

Regenerative medicine has been under the controversial spotlight for a while now with many religions against the use of embryonic stem cells for research and treatments because they involve killing a human embryo for the purpose of research. The Catholic religion considers a human a living being from the moment the gamates meet and considers embryonic stem cell research the killing of innocent human creatures. This embryonic stem cell controversy has motivated and reinvigorated the pro-life movement, whose members are concerned with the rights and status of the embryo as an a human being. The movement believes that any research done using embryonic stem cells is methologically considered murder. On the other hand, Judiasm is for embryonic stem cell research and as stated by Rabbi Levi Yitschak Halperin,

 

“As long as it has not been implanted in the womb and it is still a frozen fertilized egg, it does not have the status of an embryo at all and there is no prohibition to destroy it.... The best and worthiest solution is to use it for life-saving purposes, such as for the treatment of people that suffered trauma to their nervous system, etc.” —Rabbi Levi Yitschak Halperin, Ma'aseh Choshev vol. 3, 2:6

 

Also, with new breakthroughs in adult stem cell technology, there is less of a need to depend on embryonic stem cells for research. Adult stem cells have been discovered to have some of the same plasticity as pluripotent embronic stem cells. Overall, the publics general fear of stem cell research should be a thing of the past with the new tehnology being created using adult stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells instead of embryonic stem cells.