Stem Cells Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Stem Cells Research - Essay Example In the attempt to bring some semblance of civility from both opposing camps, many articles have been written both for general readership and for the scientific community. The discourses have been tackled from different angles of argument yet it is still difficult to find middle ground. There are significant differences between a scholarly and popular publication. Academic publication aims to provide the scientific community and academe theoretically based arguments that would capture their attention. Popular publications on the other hand aim to educate the general public on the contentious issues without venturing into technical terminologies that may cloud the issue further. Writers for popular publications should consider the limitations of readers when it comes to explaining relevant facts. The academic and scientific community would not accept simple explanations for the issues. They would consider the validity of the arguments if they were well grounded and anchored on accepted theories. Both mediums aim to inform but they carry different weights. In examining some examples of the two types of publications, it is but appropriate to consider the audience each of the publications was intended for. Ultimately, the intention of the writers is to educate the publ ic. At first glance, without delving into details, academic pub... If one would require fast facts, then it is more practical to turn to popular publications. The strategy of this paper is to pair up two articles from each type with similar issues discussed. This would give the readers two presentations for the same issue. The Regulation Argument Popular Publication Article Title: To create, or not to create Author: Bernadine Healy, M.D. Publication: U.S. News & World Report. Washington Academic Publication Article: Navigating the quagmire: the regulation of human embryonic stem cell research Author/s: D.G.Jones and C.R.Towns Publication: Human Reproduction Dr. Healy, writing on the necessity of having ground rules set before pursuing stem cell research further, attempted to influence her readers through her more emotional contentions about the issue. There was no attempt to elaborate on details. The writer dealt with simple facts that the public can easily relate and understand. She did give a brief background on the progress of legislation but very little detail. Healy presented one position on banning the continuance of stem cell research. She wrote, "A Swiss law that took effect earlier this month is typical of laws in most European countries: It bans embryo creation outright."1 Jones and Towns elaborated on four different positions. Position A advocated complete ban of stem cell research; Position B called for status quo; Position C allowed continued research within the 14-day limit for embryo extraction; and Position D permitted the creation of human embryo for research purposes in addition to the other current research initiatives.2 Comparing the intentions of the two articles, both are informative but the writers of the scholarly publication allowed the readers to form their opinions after having