Stake Holder #1

National Institue of Health. "National Institute of Health" 12/1/2012 via wikipedia. Public Domain Dedication License 

This blog will be about the National Institutes of Health which is a primary stake holder in this debate. 

The National Institute of Health is a combination of 27 separate institutes and centers that conduct research in different areas of science. Most of the Institutes are located in Bethesda, Maryland with 23 of 27 being on the National Institute of Health campus. The main campus is located between Old Georgetown Road and Wisconsin Avenue and has over fifty buildings.

 The buildings range in appearances with some looking like standard brick buildings and others having a more modern/futuristic look to them.

Walking on campus you will see a variety of people. From people working in the lab, to tourists, to people just walking their dog, the campus appeals to a wide range of people. The campus is buzzing with people during the day either taking tours or just walking around. 

Later on, it becomes much more peaceful and quite and by sunset the crowd has thinned out to just a few people walking to the train station heading back home. There are plenty of places to sit on campus where you can just enjoy the sound of nature and smell the fresh air. At any given moment, there are lectures and discussions held by staff members who want to share their theories and results on whatever they may be working on.

Claims 

"Effective with the date of this Notice, NIH will not fund any new or competing grant applications or contract proposals for research in which human pluripotent cells are introduced into non-human vertebrate animal pre-gastrulation stage embryos." 

This claim is valid because it came directly from the National Institute of Health This claim carries a lot of weight because the researchers see it as hindering the development of medicine and science. The National Institute of Health is very credible as the research everything before they say it to the public. 

“The specter of an intelligent mouse stuck in a laboratory somewhere screaming ‘I want to get out’ would be very troubling to people.” 

This claim is valid because it shares the opinions of many of the people who are against the mixing of human stem cells and animal embryos. They do not want the possibility of that animal to develop a human conscious. This claim carries a lot of weight because the National Institute of Health has a lot of money to fund projects and with out that money the researchers have been forced to look elsewhere. 


"Given the rapid expansion of potential research models employed beyond the scope described above, NIH would like to undertake a deliberative process to evaluate the state of the science in this area, the ethical issues that should be considered, and the relevant animal welfare concerns associated with these types of studies."

This claim is valid because it came directly from the National Institute of Health and it states exactly was has been happening. It carries a lot of weight because it is not saying that their is no hope for the research to receive funding just that they have to look into it themselves before the make a decision. 


These claims tend to echo the views of people who are against the mixing of animal embryos and stem cells. They do not believe that their is enough scientific research behind it to know the outcomes. They also believe that there is a chance for the lab animals to develop human characteristics. Many of the scientist who are for this use of stem cells acknowledge the lack of research. However, they believe that cutting the funding is the wrong way to go about it because it is stopping the research that could potentially answer such questions.