Stem Cell Argumentative Essay

Research has shown that studying stem cells has provided possibilities for treating neurological disorders. Scientists have performed studies that have allowed blind patients to gain vision again and have also discovered that sustaining the blood-brain barrier could help in diseases such as Parkinson's disease. Many people find stem cell research unhealthy because of the pain women go through when donating. However, stem cell research has advanced people's knowledge tremendously when it comes to neurological disorders.

In this study, expression of the transcription factor reduced while that of the E-cadherin cell receptor was up-regulated. The events were commensurate with the mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) process, which is the converse of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phase of embryonic development. Reprogramming embodies the transient expression of OSKM transcription factors linked to pluripotency in somatic cells. These factors include c-Myc or Myc, KLF4, SOX2, and Octa4 (Li et al. 2017, p.6). They are critical to clinical translation of cell reprogramming in vivo. Their colonies resemble ESCs phenotypically, molecularly, and morphologically when compacted and placed on a culture dish.

Pluripotent stem cells are the stem cells that can only differentiate into a limited range of differentiated cells. (2) They have the ability to give rise to all somatic cells from ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm, as well as gametes. Naturally it can be found in embryos as Embryonic stem cells (ES cells). Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells or iPSC) are the pluripotent stem cells that are generated directly from adult cells, first discovered by Shinya Yamanaka in 2006 by using a set of reprogramming factors (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc or LIN28 and Nanog) (3) to reprogram mature cells back to a pluripotent state (4).

Embryonic stem cells (hESC) are pluripotent. They are obtained from the inner mass of a 5-6 day old human blastocyst that consists of approximately 100 cells (Bongso & Lee, 2005, p. 3).

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are grown in the laboratory from cells found in the early embryo. ESCs have an unlimited chance to

The creation of induced pluripotent stem cells by direct reprogramming has allowed for the circumvention of using embryonic stem cells while still leaving the cells with the ability to maintain pluripotency. Instead of ES cells which were originally derived from the epiblast of mouse embryos, IPS cells were generated from mouse embryonic fibroblasts. This eliminated both any ethical concerns for whether those cells were a living being or not and the need to destroy embryos at the blastocyst stage. An advantage of IPS cells is that they are derived from human somatic cells which makes them easy to acquire due to the possibility of using skin or blood cells. They can also be grown and differentiated individually for each person that the sample of somatic cells is taken from which eliminates the possibility of having any immune reaction and rejection to the differentiated cells during transplantation. These characteristics of IPS cells are important because they are what enables us to safely and accurately transform these affected cells from patients cells into neurons and confidently study them.

The controversy over stem cell research’s use in the medical field is almost two decades old. So why the sudden intense return of fierce political debates over an old issue? It’s because President Obama recently revoked the ban on stem cell research, as he believes it holds the potential to revolutionize the medical industry in the years to come. As USA Today quoted him saying in March, after he stopped restricting federal funding for stem cell research, "At this moment, the full promise of stem cell research remains unknown and should not be overstated. Scientists believe these tiny cells may have the potential to help us understand, and possibly cure, some of our most devastating diseases and conditions."

While there are currently no approved treatments using embryonic stem cells, they remain a theoretically potential source for regenerative and tissue replacement after injury and disease. The variety of cells they can develop into makes limitless possibilities for medicine. Turning ES cells into usable cells while avoiding transplant rejection are some problems scientists will have to work through. But like for organ transplants and anti-rejection drugs it is possible these obstacles could be overcome.

(A) and (B) are patient neurofibroma-derived fibroblasts and iPS cells before and after reprogramming. The generated iPS cells maintain classic clonal growth in both feeder-dependent (data not shown) and feeder-free (B) culture system. (C) is the illustration of the genotype of the fibroblasts and iPS cells. These cells only carry a heterozygous splicing mutation (c.204+1G>A) in the NF1 genome and with the other allele remaining wildtype (Nf1+/-). (D-I) are functional assays for Nf1+/- iPS cell pluripotency using a panel of makers for human embryonic stem cells.

Fate induced well differentiated cell back to pluripotent stem cell then modify the genome and expand them into a human pluripotent stem cell line. After cell line is produced, IPSC is induced to CD34+ cells, nature killer cells and T cells as their source of pipeline.[5] To maintain effective derivation and expansion of IPSC, Fate develops a IPSC plateform using small molecule pathway inhibitor and reprogramming factor (OCT4/SOX2/SV40LT) to quickly produce identical IPSC and enable off-the-shelf

Technology is aiding diagnostics and medical research across the world as scientists have been able to find a cure for numerous major diseases. Now a group of scientists seems to have taken big step forward in helping people with lung disease. Researchers, including Manash Paul, Saravanan Karumbayaram and Preethi Vijayaraj from UCLA, started with stem cells created using cells from adult lungs.

iPSCs are adult stem cells that have been genetically reprogrammed to behave like the pluripotent stem cells found in embryos, i.e. can differentiate into any cell type in the human body. This was first completed successfully in mice in 2006 by Shinya Yamanaka and his team (Takahashi et al., 2006), then in humans in 2007 both by Yamanaka (Takahashi et al., 2007), and by James Thomson and his team in America independently (Yu, et al., 2007). Yamanaka and Thomson’s methods were similar. In the report by Yu et

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS Cells) are derived from the patient’s blood or skin cells which have been reprogrammed to an embryonic pluripotent state. This reprogramming allows the iPS

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells, or cells that can differentiate into different cells. Stem cells are often divided into two different classes: embryonic and adult. Adult stem cells can turn into many, but not all, cells, allowing these cells to be used in the treatment of some problems. Because of this, adult stem cells are often considered “multipotent”. Embryonic stem cells can become any type of cell and any organ, creating great optimism in medical fields. Because of this, embryonic stem cells are often considered “ pluripotent”. Although there are great developments that can come out of stem cell research, there exist many problems that concern many, but not necessarily most, people. These include the classic arguments

(1) In the work done by Dr. Thomson, pluripotent stem cells were isolated directly from the inner cell mass of human embryos at the blastocyst stage. Dr. Thomson received embryos from IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) clinics-these embryos were in excess of the clinical need for infertility treatment. The embryos were made for purposes of reproduction, not research. Informed consent was obtained from the donor couples. Dr. Thomson isolated the inner cell mass (see Figure III) and cultured these cells producing a pluripotent stem cell line.