Komórki macierzyste: nadzieje i troski

Abstract

Stem cells are among the main objects of research and biological experiments at the moment. The discoveries that have already been made seem to anticipate a further qualitative breakthrough in medicine. The techniques based on stem cells entail, however, a number of ethical questions. They arouse not only hope but also concern, for they bring about a threat to man’s personal dignity and his life in the embryo stage. In his paper, the author first presents the biological problems of stem cells. In the second part he discusses the ethical aspects of the techniques based on those stems. In his analyses he clearly distinguishes between embryo stem cells and adult stem cells. The techniques based on adult stem cells are basically evaluated as positive. This evaluation, however, is not without any reservations. It demands that the same ethical principles be respected as in the case of organs transplantation. Now the techniques based on embryo stem cells are evaluated negatively. This evaluation results from the fact that in the majority of cases the techniques require the cloning of man and destruction of the human embryo.