The Evolution Of Indued Pluripotent Stem Cells And How These Developments Will Impact The Medical Field

By definition, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are somatic cells with preprogrammed features (Kamath et al. 2017). In essence, they are often modified to mimic embryonic stem cells through the expression of ectopic factors linked to gene transcription. Today, the production and characterization of iPSCs is poised to be one of the most significant hallmarks in biological stem cell research. The iPSCs are known to differentiate into a variety of cell types via indefinite

In November of 1998, a group of researchers announced that they had successfully isolated and grown a special kind of cell with the potential to develop into virtually any kind of human tissue. The scientists had made the discovery of embryonic stem cells. The discovery was considered to be an innovative

Attempts were made to fertilize mammalian eggs outside of the human body and in the early 1900s, it was discovered that some cells had the ability to generate blood cells. In 1968, the first bone marrow transplant was performed to successfully to treat patient’s severe combined immunodeficiency. There have been many stem cell discoveries since the early 1900’s but the two majors were in 1998 when, Thompson, from the University of Wisconsin, isolated cells from the inner cell mass of early embryos and developed the first embryonic stem cell lines. Then, in 1999 and 2000, scientists discovered that manipulating adult mouse tissues could produce different cell types.

Embryonic stem cells are found in human blastocysts (Marcovitz 17). A blastocyst is a very young embryo (just a few days old) that contains around 200 undifferentiated stem cells (Marcovitz 17). German Zoologist Valentin Hacker coined the term “stem cell” after he discovered them in a blastocyst of a crustacean (Marcovitz 18). Embryonic stem cells were collected for the first time in 1988 by Dr. James Thomson of University of Wisconsin and by Dr. John Gearheart of Johns Hopkins (Panno 76). These stem cells are unspecialized; they do not perform a specific function like cells such as muscle and nerve do (“Stem Cells”). They are also pluripotent, meaning they have the ability to divide and become specialized cells (“Stem Cells”). This is why stem cells hold so

Recently in the scientific world, the field of embryonic stem cell research has become a popular topic and has been the subject for many heated debates. Experts in the field of stem cell research promise that this will be the future of medicine; that stem cells will be the cure to all the debilitating diseases and afflictions of today, such as Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, cancer and nerve damage. The truth about embryonic stem cell research is that it is not as hopeful and as revolutionary as it seems. Many problems that will negate the use of stem cells will and have already begun to arise, especially in areas concerning health risks to the patient, opportunity costs and human rights (Condic 803). Taking into account all the

Specifically, the ethical controversies that come with using embryonic stem cells (Lo & Parham , 2009) and possible ways to get around them, will also be reviewed. Induced pluripotent stem cells in particular have the potential to replace the use of embryonic stem cells as they work in very similar ways. While there is some debate on how induced pluripotent stem cells still bring up some ethical issues (Alberta, 2009), they aren’t as heavy in comparison to that of embryonic stem cell usage. Also covered is the need for funding for stem cell research

K. H., Ph.D. (n.d.). Ten Problems with Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Retrieved April 28, 2016, from

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are pluripotent and are obtained from the inner mass of a 4-5 day old human blastocyst that consists of approximately 100 cells (“Stem cell research,” 2009).

Allowing Embryonic stem cell research does although, provide a “path of scientific discovery”(Obama 1) but as does Shinya Yamanaka’s discovery of the ability to “create stem cell lines from skin cells without destroying embryos”(Cook 2). Not only does Yamanaka’s discovery provide us with an explorable world of scientific possibilities, but it also evades the controversial aspect of stem cell research and makes it possible to conduct research without the destruction of embryonic cells. With this in mind the decision seems clear but yet, the argument runs on. With such a respectable research process of which induced pluripotent stem cells are used it seems most rational that we should continue research with this method and save both the possible lives and the living people who are struggling 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.

With the advent of a wide variety of scientific advances in the medical field, especially those improvements in health-related fields, the quality of life for the earth’s inhabitants has improved greatly over the past century. Scientists continue to improve upon current knowledge and expand the field of medicine. Over the past few years, scientists have performed significant research pertaining to the study of stem cells. Many researchers see potential in the manipulation of stem cells - possible treatments for currently incurable diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s (Goldstein). With these new discoveries, though, questions as to the morality of such practices arise. While few find an

Many scientists believe that embryonic stem cell (ESC) research is the key to curing diseases such as cancer and HIV. Stem cells are so important to biomedical research because they are primitive cells that are capable of replicating indefinitely producing a multitude of different types of cells. This means that one of these pre-determined cells has to potential of becoming any range of over two hundred tissues with epithelial cells to blood and

Background:Embryonic stem cells were discovered in 1981.Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent stem cells, derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, a hollow ball of cells. Because they are pluripotent, they can become any type of cell of the human body. It was later discovered that these types of cells could grow or form other organisms. Now scientist are making and killing unborn babies to conduct their research.

Through the history of medicine there have been different interventions, inventions, patents, breakthrough discoveries, and cured diseases. However, some of these crucial discoveries have come at an ethical cost to the scientific community which has raised concerns among the different populations of the world. A critical discovery in the world of medicine was the development and use of stem cells to cure tissue, organ, and endothelial damage; the regeneration of hair and auditory neurons; and the potential to cure some of the world’s most puzzling diseases.

Human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are pluripotent cells isolated from blastocysts, and are highly useful in studying human development (Itzkovitz-Eldor et al., 2000 p. 88). Although the National Institute of Health states that “it is not known if iPSCs and embryonic stem cells differ in clinically significant ways”, iPSCs are already being used to achieve the same results as ESCs in some applications without the use of embryos, removing the ethical concern associated with ESCs (National Institutes of Health, 2009). ESCs are capable of differentiating into all cell types, and can be used as a source of differentiated cells. In the report by Itskovitz-Eldor et al., they discuss the induced differentiation of ESCs in suspension into embryoid bodies, including the three embryonic germ layers. The authors state that “the ability to induce formation of human embryoid bodies that contain cells of neuronal, hematopoietic and cardiac origins will be useful in studying early human embryonic development” (Itzkovitz-Eldor et al., 2000 p. 88).