Ethics and Stem Cell Research
Individuals and societies make numerous decisions about ethical behavior and choices based on individual and shared understandings of what is right and good. Underlying these decisions about good and right behaviour is some concept about what it means to be a good person leading a good life. Ethics can be approached several different ways, including: an emphasis on behavior that leads to the greatest positive consequences; a focus on the moral duty of each person to forgo or perform certain actions; or, a focus on leading a virtuous life.
Stem cell research is a broad scientific and medical endeavor that involves questions of ethics commonly raised in medical research. Stem cells are also found in human embryos and raise ethical issues commonly involved in the use of human reproductive tissue and the use of embryos in research. An important threshold question to ask is whether stem cell research raises any new or unique ethical issues not raised in other contexts.