The Debate Over Stem Cells

Stem cells are used in treating different diseases because embryonic cells can form into the cell type needed, then those cells replace the ones that were damaged by the disease. They can be used in a bone marrow transplant.

First of all an understanding of what a stem cell is, where it comes from, and the significance of it's medical potential is essential. Stem cells are the "master cells" that form the human body or whatever other animal it is from. Stem cells can be extracted from adult tissues, bone marrow, umbilical cord blood ( ), and embryos in the blastocyst stage. Although scientists have found ways to manipulate the stem cells from adult sources into other types of cells, they claim that they are less capable of deriving the desired tissue and are not "biologically equivalent" ( ) to stem cells extracted from embryos.

Scientists need to know that all the stem cells completely change into the tissue to avoid negative side effects, like tumors, when the cells are implanted in patients. Scientists also try to experimentally treat diseases with no cure with stem cells by implanting them into animal models, like mice (Freedman 13).

Firstly, what even are stem cells? Stem cells are cells that can turn into many different types of cells throughout your bedy. Think of it like a mother cell creating endless amounts of children. There are two kinds; pluripotent, ones that can turn into basically every cell in the body, and multipotent, ones that can only for a small number of cells.

Because of stem cells regenerative qualities, many scientists hypothesize that eventually we can use stem cells on a large scale to assist us to regenerate damaged tissue within the body especially when transitioning organ donations, or prosthetics into an individual, ultimately making it a safer practice.

Stem cells are defined as the population of cells within an organism that retains its ability to divide and differentiate into various cell types. Since the early 1980s, scientists have researched the use of stem cells in the treatment of various human diseases such as cancer and diabetes. The research has sparked a controversial debate worldwide due to the nature of stem cell research and the source of pluripotent stem cells used in research. Stem cell research is a necessity, despite the source of pluripotent stem cells, because the research has led to breakthrough information involving the treatment diseases and injuries and the use of stem cells to replace damaged cells.

Stem cells are unspecialized pluripotent cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division and can be influenced to become specific cells with special functions. (Source F). It is no exaggeration to say that harnessing the amazing regenerative properties of stem cells will greatly aid the medical field in finding cures for debilitating chronic diseases. On February 1, 1961, Dr. James Till and Ernest McCulloch established The Foundation for Stem Cell Science and incredible advances have continued. The most recent happened on February 20, 2016 when stem cells were used to replace part of a human brain. (Source E). Their regenerative properties can be utilized to repair organs such as eyes for the blind, or hearts for those suffering with cardiovascular disease. Stem cell therapy can

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

Stem cells are important for living organism in many ways. In a blastocyst the inner cells give the entire body of the organism, including cell types and organs such as the heart, lungs, and skin. In adult tissues such as brain, muscle, and bone marrow separated populations of stem cells generate and create replacements for cells that are lost or died through a tear, injury, and disease. Stem cell transplantation allows doctors to give large doses of chemotherapy or radiation therapy to increase the chance of eliminating blood cancer in the marrow and then restoring normal blood cell production (Gknation

Stem cell therapy advocates the reparative response of diseased, dysfunctional or injured tissue using stem cells. Regenerative medicine holds the promise of ways to repair cardiovascular damage and improved cancer treatment. Stem cells are used to treat leukemia, some joint repairs and repair the liver. The adult stem cells used to treat autism comes from the human umbilical cord tissue. The role of stem cell therapies has brought the success level of scientists higher as they are soon to discover treatments for more diseases.

Second, under certain physiological or experimental situations they can be induced to become tissues – or organs. This leaves a great deal of unexplored area in modern medical sciences, and a great deal for humanity to gain knowledge on about the human body. Now, to expand further on the topic we are encroaching on, there are 2 main types of stem cells as far as research is concerned. The first type, the one that brings about the controversy, is embryonic stem cells. According to mayoclinic.org, these stem cells come from embryos that are three to five days old. At this stage, an embryo is called a blastocyst and has about 150 cells. These are pluripotent stem cells, meaning they can divide into more stem cells or can become any type of cell in the body. This versatility allows embryonic stem cells to be used to regenerate or repair diseased tissue and organs, although their use in people has been to date limited to eye-related disorders such as macular degeneration. The second type is adult stem cells. According to the previously mentioned source, these stem cells are found in small numbers in most adult tissues, such as bone marrow or fat. Compared with embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells have a more limited ability to give rise to various cells of the body. Yet, due to many misconceptions about stem cells and how said stem cells are derived, there is a

This would result in having a removal of the organ or part of the organ, and resulting in giving someone fifty percent chance of living life. However, stem cells are becoming more common in engineering to modify organs. In the article “Making Tissue, One Cell at a Time” , it states that, “Stem cells begin to build tissues, yet they become uncertain of evolving into complex configurations as organs”(Hill 1). Therefore stem cells need natural, three- dimensional environment to grow and differentiate. Researchers have created an artificial scaffold to give cells physical support to organize into larger bodies such as organs. Also scientists were able to generate blood vessels into mice skin, “ They then implanted the engineered tissue scaffolds just under the skin of mice with disabled immune systems. After two weeks, the team was surprised to find that blood vessels riddled the tissue, linking it to the mouse vasculature system” (Hill 1). The success of producing blood vessels with stem cells is remarkable amazing and has opened up many pathways for researchers to go beyond and engineer organs for individuals who are disabled or and are in need of organ transplant due to cancer or other common medical issues. This will help save lives of elders, children and disabled people that want another shot at life. Therefore, stem cells are important in reincarnation of unhealthy organs or removed organs which would only benefit not

Stem cell treatments for disorders involving the blood and the immune system as well as bone marrow transplants have already been proven to be safe and effective. Bone marrow transplants use adult stem cells and can treat leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, sickle cell anemia, and other blood disorders. Patients are given chemotherapy to kill the cancer cells, and then a bone marrow transplant is enacted to put healthy cells back into the patient. Each year over 50,000 bone marrow transplants worldwide are used to effectively treat patients. All of these people might die without this treatment. Thus, stem cell treatment has been saving live since the first bone marrow transplant. In addition, further research may lead to the development of numerous other safe and effective treatments to a variety of disorders. ALS, Alzheimer’s, joint diseases caused by cartilage damage, diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and tissue and organ damage are some of the things that stem cell research is working on developing treatments for. Also, there are already clinical trials using stem cells to treat age-related blindness and spinal cord injuries. Therefore, stem cells have significantly impacted society due to

There is significant difference between adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells only generate the cell types of the tissue in which they reside. Scientists have found stem cells in many more tissues in the recent years than they ever thought possible. Stem cells from bone marrow have been used for transplants for over 40 years, but researchers have now found that stem cells also exist in the brain and heart. Adult stem cells are rare in mature tissues, so isolating these cells from adult tissues can be challenging. They are also currently believed to be less likely to initiate rejection after transplantation than embryonic stem cells. This is because the patient’s own stem cells and tissues are being reintroduced into the patient, therefore they are less like to be rejected by the immune system (Top 10). On the other hand, embryonic stem cells are mostly derived from embryos that have been fertilized in vitro and are then donated to research with the consent of the donor. These stem cells can become all cell

Stem cells are cells that have the capabilities to develop into many different types of cells in the body. Serving as a type of repair system for the body, they can theoretically divide without limit to take over for other cells for