How Brazilian and North American Newspapers Frame the Stem Cell Research Debate

Abstract

Stem cell research has become one of the hottest scientific topics in the past few years. By combining the ability to exactly self-duplicate and the potential to differentiate themselves to constitute any organic tissue, embryonic stem cells have presented geneticists and medical researchers with a new wealth of possibilities to treat and cure degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. By relying heavily on discarded embryonic lines, stem cell research has also generated a new host of ethical and political controversies. The concept of media frames was employed to analyze how some of the main Brazil- and U.S.-based newspapers have framed and presented the stem cell research debate. The analysis indicates that while in Brazil the issue has been presented from a scientific (and mostly positive) point of view, in the United States the debate has been dominated by its political and ethical dimensions.