Inquiry Project-Stem Cell Research

2005-12-09T13:04:00.000-08:00

In-progree Tast Pg 151
I really can't ask people to act a certain way towards my subject. Obvoiusly in my writings I have stated that I am more against embryonic stem cell research than I am for it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I just ask that people stick to their morals and stand for what is right.

I think that the principle of comprehensiveness did play a big part in the quality of my writing. We were asked to think of questions that we think needed to be answered. An important question that we think the readers would want to know, and what we wanted to know. I don't think that the audience would want to continue to read our paper unless we tried to answer questions that we thought they might have or be interested in.

When working on these projects I tried to read many articles, whether they were for or against stem cell research. I tried to get the facts of what is going on today in the world with the topic. I read about the positives and the negatives of stem cell research. All that I can come up with is that right now we don't really know what will become of stem cell research. Will the President allow embryonic stem cell research? Or will there continue to be restrictions on it? We don't know what is goign to happen. In my working document I tried to explain the good sides and bad sides to embryonic stem cell research and hoped that the reader would decide from themselves what is right and wrong. I think that I sstill have so much to learn about the subject, I don't have the right to tell a person what the right or wrong thing to do is.

2005-12-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

Another persuasive goal...
I could write an op-ed column. My audience would be directed towards American citizens. I would ask them to stand up for their beliefs and be true to their morals. Explain to them that new discoveries are being made every day and to not give up. We should not have to kill a human life to save one when soon enough there will be other alternatives.

2005-12-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

In Progress Tast Pg 140
A persuasive goal....
I could try to persuade Doctor's and Scientists to concentrate on other possibilities of stem cell research other than embryonic stem cell research. I could write an open letter. Obviously my audience would be a Doctor or Scientist, or even the President. The president has put limitations on embryonic stem cell research. I think that he should continue to keep those, and scientists should accept that and concentrate on finding more alternatives.

2005-12-06T10:20:00.000-08:00

My Interview!
I wasn't really sure who I should interview for my topic, so I asked my mom if she had any ideas. Turns out that a Doctor she use to work with years ago agreed to let me do an interview. It was good because I got some very useful information from him and my mom was able to make contact with him after so many years and catch up on some things. I think it was very helpful to do a professional interview because he was able to give me facts about the subject. I think that an opinion interview would have been great as well, just to see someone elses point of view.

2005-10-30T19:48:00.000-08:00

Question that I think is the most important to other people (including myself):
Are there alternatives to stem cell research other than aborting a fetus to use for research?

Question that is important to me:
Where is funding for this research coming from and where will it continue to come from?

Just another one...
What are all the possible outcomes of stem cell research and how will they be used to help people?

2005-10-30T19:23:00.000-08:00

Paraphrastic Response
Bone Marrow Stem Cells May Heal Hearts Even Years After Heart Attacks

Eighteen patients were given infusions of their own bone marrow stem cells years after a heart attack. Left ventricular function and exercise capacity increased, while the area of heart muscle damage shrank. This new therapy will be able to treat patients with heart complaints and funtion disturbances that use to be irreversible. They are hoping that in the future this cardiac regeneration using stem cells could help "reverse some heart attack damage, reduce symptoms and improve the daily functioning of patients".

This research did not look at how stem cells may heal heart attack damage. Other studies have shown that bone marrow cells may be able to differentiate into heart muscle cells so that heart attack damage may be healed. Until now only eighteen patients have participated in this research. They were compared to a control group. In order to strengthen the results we need to use a larger more random control group.

2005-10-30T19:12:00.000-08:00

Affective Response

After reading this article it made me feel a bit confused. I know that there is so much more that I need to learn about this subject before I can come close to fully understanding it. It is great that people that have suffered from heart attacks have/will be able to be helped by harvesting their own bone marrow and infusing the stem cells into the artery where the heart attack occurred. "The patient's left ventricular function and exercise capacity increased, while the area of heart muscle damage shrank." This therapy that they have tested demonstrates that restoration is possible. To me it sounds like they are really coming along way in stem cell research. I also feel a little nervous after reading this article. I wonder if there will be side effects in the future, but they are just not known yet.

2005-10-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Hi, my name is Megan Gallagher. This is my blog for my Comp 1 English class. We created a blog for an Inquiry Project that we are working on. This is to write down ideas and research that we find through out the course of this project that will help us in our writing. The topic I chose for my project is stem cell research. I hope to learn a lot about the subject while working on this.
Thats all for now!