I'm not much of a bioethics expert. But I would like to make one reminder: There are several sorts of stem cells and stem cell research. Some stem cells are taken from adults, which can be a little painful but there is no ethical controversy over this. Same goes for removing stem cells from an umbillical cord following birth. Then there are embryonic stem cells taken from an embryo (sorry, I may be misspelling things here...) usually grown from in vitro fertilization. And there are fetal stem cells gathered from abortions. The last two are, of course, the controversial ones. Some studies have managed to take controversy even further, like the recent South Korean study that combined cloning and embryonic stem cell research into one experiment.
The hardest thing in writing such a novel would be staying neutral. Right now, the ethical issues are still controversial and the possible benefits to stem cell research are speculative and unproven. So any book is likely to have to take sides. Would the research uncover a miracle cure that is being held back by its opponents? Or would it turn out to be an empty promise and a moral can of worms that won't go back into the can once the research shows it to be ineffective? It's hard for a book like that without speculating about the consequences, and in speculating about the consequences, it is virtually impossible to avoid taking sides.
People you have not sided with are likely to reject your book as propeganda.
