Should we redesign humans? That is the title of a group of twelve Ted talk videos talking about everything that has to do with regenerating a part of the human body. I chose to watch three videos which focused on joint-replacement, personalized medicine using stem cells and re-growing new bone and cartilage. Each of the videos speakers made a very compelling sell for their specific cause. If someone in your family had severe arthritis would you want them to be relieved of their pain at all costs? What about if science could create a specific cure for the exact type of cancer you or a loved one had would you care how it was designed? Or if you had a bone defect and science could regrow your bone using your own stem cells. Would you be opposed …show more content…
Nina Tandon is a Tissue Engineering Researcher who has studied and worked at many higher learning institutions including MIT and Columbia. Tandon starts off her speech explaining that while everyone is similar in some ways, no two humans react to drugs and medicines the same way. The reason she starts off her speech with this statement is she is trying to develop the method of creating any type of tissue or organ from the process of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. Using this method scientists are able to create any type of tissue and create cures for many types of diseases. Tandon states that using this method they can inject a bio-tissue with a disease from a specific patient and work to cure that specific strain of the disease. Tandon explains that using this type of stem cell research will greatly reduce animal testing and human clinical …show more content…
Molly Stevens is the lead researcher at Imperial College London, her research team is responsible for designing bioactive materials for regenerative medicine and biosensing. Stevens begins her speech by talking about how throughout the history of the world humans have been using different materials to replace or repair parts of the body. She gave examples of a scientist in World War 2 discovering that plastic from the cockpit window of a fighter plane was getting into the pilot's eyes helping them to see better, as well as, the Aztecs using rocks as filaments for teeth. Stevens shows a slide that says every year 1 million people have some sort of bone defect that requires bone grafting. The standard way of bone grafting was taking a piece of bone from the hip and placing it in the bone that needs to be repaired. This method works well but the pain is severe and can last as long as 2 years. Instead of using this method they have discovered a way to grow bone using your own stem cells. This method is called In Vivo Bioreactor; this method can not only re-grow massive amounts of bone it is also starting to be researched on how it can be used to help with heart tissue and other
Tissue engineering is an emerging interdisciplinary field that uses principles from engineering, biology and chemistry in an effort towards tissue regeneration. The main draw of tissue engineering is the regeneration of a patient’s own tissues and organs free from low biofunctionality and poor biocompatibility and serious immune rejection. As medical care continues to improve and life expectancy continues to grow, organ shortages become more problematic.(Manufacturing living things) According to organdonor.gov, a patient is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes and an average of 18 people die everyday waiting for an organ donation. The “nirvana” of tissue engineering is to replace the need for organ donation altogether. This could be achieved using scaffolding from
It seems like every few month scientists make the next breakthrough in combining technology and human biology. More and more things that only existed in science fiction like mutants and biological enhancements have become reality. But unlike other improvement in our society, the concept of human engineering has become an issue of ethics. As this reality human engineering draws closer-everyone from scholars to
The recovery period after large scale injuries could be shortened. The effects are analyzed in an article that states, “True healing could occur thanks to the cloning of their own cells to help the recovery process” (“Pros and Cons” 5). Basically, the process of cloning healthy cells could be used as an aid in replenishing damage of unhealthy cells. This process, if it were to be actualized, could help recovery progress in anything from pulled muscles to the paralysis of an entire limb. In theory, the same research can be applied in other areas. If this technology is paired with stem cell research, it could result in a method of repairing physical damage. An article that focused on advances in biotechnology stated that “Another use of cloned stem cells could be the growth of replacement tissues in the laboratory” (LaPensee 15). Necrosis, apoptosis, and lymphocyte diapedesis all cause tissue damage or death. These tissues could be replaced by cloned cells of healthy tissues. This shortens recovery periods and leads to healthier tissue growth.
On this journey, people have one job and that is to hypothesize, observe and conclude or reflect. That is the scientific method, one can only advance if they have understood. Stem cell research is the next stop. People have studied the far reaches of the galaxies and the depths of our ocean but we do not fully understand what is happening within our own body. There is a theory I have and that is what ever happens on the small scale, for example stem cells cloning, happens on the big scale, universes cloning. This research can help us understand how to heal ourselves when we are ill or injured, how to clone successfully and many more. It substitutes the need to research and test on animals or humans as well. This knowledge benefits us economically as less people would be ill saving money. Embryonic stem cells hold a mountain of knowledge, just waiting for us to
Imagine being diagnosed with a life threatening or life changing disease, such as Leukemia or Alzheimer's and all hope has been lost, until someone tells you that stem cells could save your life. Stem cell research should be allowed because they can be used to cure various diseases, save lives with stem cell operations, and can be used for further research. Scientists continue to study this controversial topic to develop ways besides using embryonic stem cells so the use of stem cells altogether is more accepted throughout society.
In Brazil 2009, there was an 18 year old boy that had half of his jaw and teeth removed because of a tumor. Scientists took some of his bone marrow and extracted the adult stem cells from it and formed an osteoblast, which is a bone forming cell. Six months after the osteoblast was injected, it started forming new bone material which filled the gaps (NIH Stem Cells). Stem cells could be a genius way to treat many diseases and disorders and it should be supported by everyone.
In the past two decades, many technological and scientific advances have been made in order to make life easier for many people who suffer from cancer, disease and sickness. Among these advances there is something revolutionary called stem cells. Stem cells can help restore and regenerate almost all parts of the human body such as the heart, kidney, liver, and many other organs. Although stem cells offer a lot, there are many views against and for stem cells, and among these views lies the debate of whether stem cells should be legalized or not (NIH 2). Stem cells offer exciting new opportunities in the field of science such as regenerating human body parts, but many people are still debating whether or not the use of stem cells is
When talking about stem cell research, there are many differing opinions. This has been a hot topic for debate over the last several years. It boils down to ethics. Does sacrificing the life of a potential person justify saving another person 's life with a fatal disease or illness? To many, the answer is yes. However, for others, the answer is no. Those in favor argue that these cells could possibly help to cure diseases like Parkinson 's, Alzheimer 's, Diabetes, and even Cancer. Those opposed argue that it is still taking the life of a human, and that it is morally wrong to do so. It is my belief that the benefits of the research far outweigh the costs. Curing those diseases could potentially save thousands, if not millions of lives. But, what exactly are stem cells?
Why are humans stuck how they are? Why do some have lethal flaws? Why do theses flaws exist? The correct answer is they don’t have to: Human genetic engineering can solve some of theses lethal issues now and can solve more in the future. It can help the next generation experience what everyone strives to achieve. Human genetic engineering research should continue because it can save people's lives, improve human’s lives and improve the lives of the next generation of children.
Research on stem cells is knowledge constantly being explored about how an organism evolves from a single cell and how cells in good condition are put in place of cells that no longer work. The outcome that is anticipated from doing this research is that if scientist can fine tune stem cells into regular cells like blood or heart muscles and put it back into the body, then possibly they may find a cure for some of the widespread diseases that exist in our world today such as diabetes, leukemia, and many more by replacing those weak cells with youthful cells. Eventually this research might lead to realistic, reasonably priced ways to get rid of many diseases through DNA engineering but is it really worth
I believe that regenerative therapy would be beneficial to all patients. This therapy helps people live longer and treat cancer as well as other diseases. It may be expensive, but I believe the impact on the quality of life and helping future illnesses recur outweighs the financial burden of developing and implementing the
The goal of this process is strictly to harvest stem cells, resulting in the creation of “cloned organs”, which can be used to treat heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and cancer.
Personally, I agree on the most part with my mom’s responses except for some of her responses on genetic engineering. For genetic engineering,I think that it should be able to be used on everything except changing physical feature, because no one would look human anymore. Our knowledge in technology is constantly advancing so even if there is overcrowding, I believe that we would find a way to create more space for everyone to fit. I think genetic engineering is a great discovery that scientists have made and it should be taken advantage of. If we were not to use the genetic engineering, we would basically be sitting around with the cure for all of the diseases and refusing to put them to use just because we are worried about overcrowding.
By combining this technology with human cloning technology it may be possible to produce needed tissue for suffering people that will be free of rejection by their immune systems. Conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, heart failure, and other problems may be made curable by human cloning. (“Cloning to Save Lives”)
The transfer of information, often shared through scientific reports and research, puts this topic in a highly international spotlight. Many supporters believe that stem cells will be able to help solve once untreatable diseases or injuries such as spinal cord injuries, skin burns, Parkinson’s disease, and some blood disorders. However, the main argument is if stem cells should be used in finding therapeutic treatments. The use of embryonic stem cells is viewed by many as a moral inconsistency; it is opposed by religious organizations and individuals believing that this research should be abandoned and existing, alternative methods be adapted.