Description:
<jats:p> 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. </jats:p>