Embryonic Stem Cells (ESC) are pluripotent cells that give rise to all cell
types and are used for cell replacement and regenerative therapies. However, ethical,
social, and legal controversies have questioned the morality of the procedures to obtain
ESC lines, and the moral status of an embryo is oscillating in the debate about the
origin of life, whether it originates at the totipotent stage or at the point of syngamy.
Ironically, the moral status of women is also being defied by inadequate informed
consent for medical procedures and their life-threatening consequences. In response to
the ESC controversy, an alternate approach of using low-grade embryos for obtaining
ESC lines has been proposed. This study aims to define the moral status of an embryo,
question the defined status of a woman, and find new ethical-based medical procedures
to obtain ESC lines.
Keywords: Causative factors, Consequences, Embryonic stem cell research, Ethical concerns, Embryonic stem cells, Healthcare sector, Moral status, Organizational work, Prevalence, Pluripotent, Statistics, Somatic stem cells, Somatic nuclear transfer, Women exploitation-egg commercialization.
