Working title: Stem Cells: What are they good for? Absolutely everything.
Introduction (1 page):
Medicine has benefitted for years from advancements in technology and research. Technology combined with research has allowed, once crazy and impractical, ideas to be put into action to treat, heal and even cure many diseases and illnesses to improve or ensure a long quality of life for patients. Continuation of medical technology and research is vital and offers many potential cures, especially through regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine involves tissue engineering and biology to generate human tissues like cells and organs to restore the normal function within those said cells and organs. Stem cells have a huge role in regenerative
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Defining Types of Stem Cells and where they come from (2 pages): As mentioned a stem cell is an unspecialized cell that is capable of producing specialized or differentiated cell. A differentiated cell is any cell that has a specific function, for example a blood cell, skin cell or a brain cell. Having this ability allows the cell the takeover for dead cells or cells that have been lost. There are different types of stem cells all coming from a different source: Embryonic, Umbilical Cord, Adult, and induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSC). Embryonic stem cells are considered pluripotent, meaning they are capable of producing all cell types in the body. In the process of in vitro fertilization where embryos are formed and implanted many embryos do not actually get implanted and are frozen. Inside an embryo in the blastocyst stage is a small cluster of embryonic stem cells that would eventually develop. By culturing these frozen embryos to the blastocyst stage we are able to harvest the cluster of embryonic stem cells inside the embryo and in a laboratory they can grow indefinitely. (Lysaught – 1999). Embryonic stem cells are incredibly useful in their potential to produce any cell in the body. However, because of ethical issues embryonic stem cells are not usually used in research and experimentation. Umbilical cord and adult stem cells are classified as multipotent cells. These stem cells, while having the ability to produce multiple
One type of Stem cells is embryonic stem cells. 5 or 7 days into a fertilization process, the egg divides rapidly and produces a ball of cells called a blastocyst in which all the cells are alike. Gradually, after this stage, the cells start differentiating. Differentiation involves the expression of some genes from the organism’s genuine in the cell, but not others. This process assigns each cell specific purposes and once differentiation takes place, it cannot be reversed in most cases. Cells in the blastocyst have the potential to turn into almost any cell types: they are said to be pluripotent and are known as embryonic stem cells. These cells are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts of pre – implantation stage embryos. The properties of embryonic stem cells are still kept.
There are two main types of stem cells. The first is the Embryonic stem cell. Embryonic stem cells are obviously found in embryos. Human embryonic stem cells are generated by transferring cells from a preimplantation-stage embryo into a plastic laboratory culture dish that contains a nutrient broth known as culture medium. Many people are against embryonic stem cell use because by extracting stem cells from an embryo it destroys it. Also opponents of the research argue that embryonic stem cell
Stem cells are cells that have the potential to become almost any cell in the human body, during the early developments of life. Stem cells have the possibility to generate all of tissues within a human as well. Each stem cell can either stay a stem cell or become a more specialized cell. The stem cells that are unspecialized are capable of renewing themselves or possibly being induced to become organ specific cells or tissue cells with special functions. Most stem cells have a constant supply to replace other cells that are injured, diseased, or even aged.
Stem cells are cells which can essentially form into any type of cell that can be found in the body. There are various types of stem cells. These include embryonic, adult, genetically reprogrammed adult stem cells, and perinatal stem cells. The most versatile, as well as controversial, type of stem cells are embryonic stem cells. These cells are found in 3-5 day old embryos which are formed through in vitro fertilization ("Stem Cell Basics" 1). While scientists have been able to reprogram adult stem cells to act as if they were embryonic, there is yet to be any conclusive evidence as to how the use of the altered cells will affect humans ("Stem cells: What they are and what they do" 1). The use of stem cells is largely focused on regenerative medicine which takes advantage of the stem cells versatility to create and replace damaged tissues in
The reason stem cells are such a big breakthrough in medical technology is that they are cells that have the remarkable ability to grow into just about any cell in the body (Introduction n. pag). In fact, stem cells that remain in the human body after birth “serve as a sort of internal repair system,” in many tissues and organs (Basics n. pag). This is an extremely efficient way of healing since stem cells can become
For years, researchers have been studying the biology of stem cells to figure out how development works and to find new ways of treating humans with health problems. Because stem cells can give way to any tissue found in the body, they provide nearly limitless abilities for medical treatments. Current studies on researching how stem cells may be used to prevent or cure diseases and injuries
Stem cell research indicates that these cells can help carry out organ transplants, treat various diseases affecting human beings, and aid in repairing and replacing various body tissues. One reason stem cells, especially embryonic stem cells, are so effective at treating diseases is they are free from genetic disorders. This ensures a significantly high success rate at curing the ailments they are used to treat. Stem cell transplants, if widely adopted, could give lasting solutions to many medical problems facing humanity. This will be possible because the embryonic cells, or the reprogrammed somatic cells, if induced to sick people, can help regenerate, repair or replace worn out, damaged, or diseased tissues. This will help get solutions to organ malfunction, through removing affected organs and then inducing stem cells, which then help to regenerate or repair the affected organs
Even though many people are unsure about stem cell use, research shows that stem cells are able to help people. Around 50,000 adult stem cell transplants happen around the world each year (“Rethinking Stem Cells” ). Imagine a world with no sickness or no cancer but also if that means killing embryos. If research keeps happening, stem cells may have the answers to many questions for great
Stem cells are special cells that have the ability to regenerate and repair damaged tissue. Embryonic stem cells appear to possess the ability to become almost any tissue within the body. This, in theory, means that a cell could be taken from one section of an embryo that may have become a part
Stem cell research is the key to profound advances in medicine that were previously unthinkable. Cure and treatment for serious diseases and major injuries are being created. New organ and tissue can be created. New drug testing will lead to safer medicine and more side effects will be spotted before the reach the market. Stem cell research is an important step to further medical
Stem cells can allow scientist to grow to replace tissue damage from heart disease, treat spinal cord and brain injury and could possibly treat serious diseases like diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's (source 5,7,9,10). While treatment, diagnosis and prevention of diseases have consistently been changing and finding new alternatives, stem cell research could be able to come up with a new approach in medicine that will be more comprehensive, integrated and highly individualized (source 10). Stem cell research can advance medicine dramatically and help much more people with critical
Basically, stem cells are cells humans and mammals have that have the capability to become specialized (Aldridge 1). “There are three kinds of stem cells: embryonic, adult, and cord 1blood” (“Stem Cell Research” 1). Human embryonic stem cells are the most useful, because they can turn into any of 210 or more different tissues that are present in adults (“Stem Cell Research” 1). Cord blood stem cells are extracted
Stem cells have the potential to impact the medical field changing the way we see science and medicine. It’s necessary to understand stem cells, the possible uses and differences. Stem cells transform to certain tissues types depending on the ones surrounding them. Certain stem cells have the ability to repair damaged tissue, which in long term can impact those with severe medical conditions. Like any other medical field. Stem cell research is very complex and consists of various data. Stem cell research is moderately new and had had various success stories in the past 50 years. The idea was put forward in 1908 by Alexander Maksimou. Maksimou created a theory establishing stem cells as being able to transform to other cells being the start of reparation of tissue.
Many of us have all heard the saying that a “lizard can lose its tail,” and bizarrely enough it will grow back. This was always considered impossible for humans, an idea belonging in the realm of science fiction, but now the regeneration of tissue is an extremely realistic possibility. Despite some opinions, this process does not happen naturally, or take place as cinematically as one might imagine. Over the past decade, there have been major advances in regenerative medicine, commonly known as stem cell research. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells within the body that have the capability to specialize into any tissue. They are most commonly found in cord blood, bone marrow, organ donations, placenta, and embryos . Stem cells are seen by some as a new miracle treatment, encouraging many countries to invest in their research.
After reading the study, the most obvious future study in my mind is adjusting the treatment period of the mice. In the future, the mice should be treated for a longer time period with the MSCs. I would like to know specifically if there were negative long-term effects for using this over a longer period of time for this purpose. In class, we learned that injecting stem cells can be dangerous in that although they have the ability to become multiple types of cells in the body, it is hard to control what type of cell they evolve into. With cells that are potentially unregulated in the body dividing, this has the potential, in my opinion, to cause problems if used for extended periods of time. Additionally, another risk of using stem cells