The ethical implications of stem cell research are often described in terms of risks, side effects, safety, and therapeutic value, which are examples of so-called hard impacts. Hard impacts are typically measurable and quantifiable. To understand the broader spectrum of ethical implications of stem cell research on science and society, it is equally important to recognize soft impacts. Soft impacts are the effects on behavior, experiences, actions, moral values, and social structures; these are often indirect effects of stem cell research. The combined notions of hard and soft impacts offer a broader way of thinking about the social and ethical implications of stem cell research and can help to steer stem cell research into a sociable desirable direction. Soft impacts enable researchers to become more aware of the broad range of significant implications involved in their work and deserve equal attention for understanding such ethical and societal effects of stem cell research.

干细胞研究的伦理意义通常用风险、副作用、安全性和治疗价值来描述，这些都是所谓的硬影响的例子。硬影响通常是可衡量和可量化的。要了解干细胞研究对科学和社会的更广泛的伦理影响，认识到软影响同样重要。软影响是对行为、经验、行动、道德价值观和社会结构的影响；这些通常是干细胞研究的间接影响。硬影响和软影响的结合提供了一种更广泛的方式来思考干细胞研究的社会和伦理影响，并有助于将干细胞研究引导到一个合乎社会的理想方向。