Stem Cells, Disability, and Abortion: A Feminist Approach to Equal Citizenship

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511627095.009

7 - Stem Cells, Disability, and Abortion: A Feminist Approach to Equal Citizenship

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2012

Nancy J. Hirschmann

Edited by

Linda C. McClain and

Joanna L. Grossman

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Linda C. McClain: Affiliation:
Boston University
Joanna L. Grossman: Affiliation:
Hofstra University, New York

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Summary

Stem cell research is one of the most exciting scientific developments of the twenty-first century. Stem cells are unspecialized cells that generate all the more specialized cells in the body such as brain cells, muscle cells, and cells for specific organs: stem cells are the building blocks for tissues that make up the human body. Scientists have discovered that these cells can be actively coached in the laboratory to develop into a wide variety of more specialized cells such as insulin-producing islet cells that could be transplanted into diabetics to end their dependency on insulin injections, brain tissue for Alzheimer's patients, or heart tissue for damaged hearts. Stem cell research could thus lead to remedies for paralysis arising from spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's, osteoporosis, a number of autoimmune diseases and birth defects – in all, ailments that affect over 125 million people in the United States alone – which would enable many of the sick and disabled to regain control over their bodies and their lives.

Stem cells used in research can come from sources like bone marrow and cord blood from afterbirth placentas, but they can also come from tissue from aborted fetuses or from embryos created through in vitro fertilization. It is this last source that holds the greatest promise, scientists believe, and is the source of the most exciting research; embryos, only five to seven days old, offer the most undifferentiated stem cells with the greatest pluripotential, or ability to transform into a variety of different kinds of cells and circumvent immune system rejection.

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: Gender Equality
Dimensions of Women's Equal Citizenship
, pp. 154 - 173

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511627095.009 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2009

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