New public stem-cell lines available

According to this article from ScienceDaily, there has been the arrival of six new embryonic stem cell lines from the University of Michigan. They have just been placed on the U.S. National Institutes of Health's registry and are now ready and available for federally-funded research (University of Michigan Health System, 2012). Now the university has a total of eight cell lines in the registry that carry mutations for diseases involving hemophelia B, Huntington's disease, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (University of Michigan Health System, 2012). With cells like these in the registry, research can be done to study the origins of these diseases and more, possibly shedding light on cures for these diseases.

Taken from http://www.provost.duke.edu/images/Research.jpg

I think it is great that these stem cell lines have been discovered and placed in the registry for other research facilities to make use of. While we may not have yet discussed stem cell research in class yet, I do have my own views on the subject and I believe in the potential stem cell research offers. Stem cell research becomes unethical in my eyes when the cells are not used or treated with care and respect. The same holds if the cells used in the research were not intended for stem cell research. As long as the stem cells are treated with respect--and especially if the cells were donated for the use of research--why not proceed with ethical studies that may provide great results?


Reference:
University of Michigan Health System (2012, June 14). Six new stem cell lines now publicly available. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 16, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2012/06/120614182600.htm