The Evolution Of Stem Cells

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.

Embryonic cells should be allowed to be used because of the medical benefits they provide. They can be used to cure diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, traumatic spinal cord injury, Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, heart disease, and even vision and hearing loss (nih.gov 2009). There is no problem using them for medical purposes and it is not immoral to use them for this reason. Embryonic cells have the potential to save lives. Therefore, the usage of embryonic cells outweighs the ethical issues.

In order to get stem cells from embryos, the embryo must be destroyed, and many people view this as killing a human, making it immoral. These embryonic cells can be given different tasks such as making a specific organ, and this is how different body parts can be made. Stem cells have been published in newspapers since 1998, but no institute or company invested money or time into stem cells until 2001, when the Canadian Institute of Health Sciences decided to fund the research of stem cells. Stem cells have three general properties, which are being capable of dividing and renewing for long periods, they have to be unspecialized, and they have to be able to give rise to specialized cells (NIH 3). Stem cells are unspecialized cells in embryos and umbilical cords that can be modified using signals in order to make specialized cells which then have the ability form into various different body parts such as livers, kidneys, hearts, and other major organs. The process of when an unspecialized stem cell turns into a specialized stem cell is called differentiation (NIH 1). In order for unspecialized stem cells to become specialized, one of the two types of signals should be used. The first signal is called internal. Internal signals occur inside a cell by its own genes, which are encoded on strands of DNA. The second signal is called external and this is possible with external support such as chemicals, physical contact, or other molecules in the

Christopher Reeve, better known as superman, was not only an actor, but also an athlete and an adventurer. On two separate occasions, he flew an airplane sole across the Atlantic Ocean. On Memorial Day weekend in 1995, Chris rode his horse, Buck, to the starting box of a cross-country race in Virginia. Chris had trained and raced horses for almost ten years, so he felt the course ahead of him would be easy. But what Chris did not see coming was just as he and Buck approached the third jump, Buck would come to a sudden stop, sending Chris over the jump. He landed directing on his head, fracturing two vertebrae in his neck. From that day on, he was completely paralyzed. At the time, there was no known treatment, no medication, and no surgery to fix his damaged spine. For the rest of his days, Chris raised money and awareness for research into spinal cord injuries. One of the topics he pushed for was embryonic stem cell research. Christopher Reeve died on October 10th, 2004, never fulfilling his goal to walk again. But if he had gotten the support and funding for stem cell research, his story might have ended differently. Embryonic stem cell research should be funded in the U.S because it could lead to the treatment to many diseases, there are other sources of stem cells, but they are limited to their use, and the eight-celled blastocysts cannot grow any further to form a baby, so it is not harming living human beings.

This article discusses the successful use of experimental stem cell treatments within a variety of clinical trials, discussing the two main types of stem cells, embryonic and adult. The article draws on research published by the Massachusetts Family Institute, "a pro-life group that is opposed to the use of embryonic stem cells" to illustrate the successful use of adult stem cells to reverse the effects of, or cure entirely, a number of severe diseases such as Crohn's disease and lupus. It also references a report by Medical Use Today which highlights encouraging experiments with embryonic stem cells that appear capable of reversing paralysis caused by spinal injuries. Written for religious audience tolerant of scientific advancements, the article focuses almost entirely on the positive aspects of experimental stem cell research, and cites studies that support its preconceptions on the subject. The author, a former "instrument development and computer science professional," possesses a scientific background which informs the construction of the article's overall argument. I found this article by searching the Ontartio Consultants on Religious Tolerance essay database, found at ReligiousTolerance.org.

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

Embryonic stem cells have the ability to grow into any type of cell that your body contains and can potentially aid in curing diseases and or repair many essential things in your body such as a kidney or a lung. This sounds like an extremely favorable advantage to medical advancements but this subject does summon some intense debates on where the stem cells come from. Embryonic meaning that it comes from the embryo veers many people’s opinion to totally protest any use of embryonic stem cells. Opposing abortions and the use of embryonic stem cells go hand in hand. Many people are just not ready for the responsibility of having a child so they take matters into their own hands and many consider having an abortion. In the end everyone takes their own decision and they fit it to what they feel is best for their lives. Many people may see an abortion as killing an innocent life but people make their own decisions and no one can stop them. Abortions are a solution to unprepared individuals that can not handle the responsibility of having a child; why not use the cells from the procedure to save a life. Children are wonderful gifts but some people are just not ready to take up the responsibility of raising that gift so they can use that gift to help another needy life.

Stem cells are cells that are found throughout the human body. They reproduce over a long period of time without changing. Stem cells can produce specialized cells, such as brain, muscle or lung cells. Stem cells in the last few years have recently made a big debut because medical professionals have discovered so many unique qualities to stem cells. They are on the cutting edge of medicine because of all their uses and the qualities that make them so unique from any other cell in the body. Stem cells have the power to make so many breakthroughs in the medical world. Medical researchers have all ready found so many ways that stem cells can be used for the better of so many people. Genes play an important role in determining what genetic traits or mutations we receive. Researching stem cells can help determine this. Stem cell research is useful for learning many things about human development and about how the body has the power to repair itself. Researchers are finding new ways each day that stem cells can be used and the possibilities that they find for stem cells could be endless. A few ways they can be used to treat diseases, be used as graphs for burn victims or surgical use, and even to correct birth defects. The pros of stem cells are limitless.

For decades, researchers’ use of stem cells has caused a controversy and the consideration of the ethics of research involving the development, usage, and destruction of human embryos. Most commonly, this controversy focuses on embryonic stem cells. Not all stem cell research involves the creation, usage and destruction of human embryos. For example, adult stem cells, amniotic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells do not involve creating, using or destroying human embryos and thus are minimally, if at all, controversial. Many less controversial sources of acquiring stem cells include using cells from the umbilical cord, breast milk, and bone marrow. (Brunt, 2012) In 1998, scientists discovered how to extract stem cells from human embryos. This discovery led to moral ethics questions concerning research involving embryo cells, such as what restrictions should be made on studies using these types of cells? At what point does one consider life to begin? Is it just to destroy an embryo cell if it has the potential to cure countless numbers of patients? Political leaders are debating how to regulate and fund research studies that involve the techniques used to remove the embryo cells. No clear consensus has emerged. Other recent discoveries may extinguish the need for embryonic stem cells. With this in mind, we will discover both sides of the issue from a pros and cons point of view. Stem cell research has expanded at an exponential rate, but its therapeutic

Imagine a child, no more than six years old, with a failing liver. There is no way for that child to receive a functional liver because of the waiting list for organs. That child will almost certainly die waiting for that liver, and never get close to the top of the list. The main reason for this is quite simple: there are not nearly enough organs available for transplant to save the people that need them. Because the research of stem cells isn’t developed or funded well enough for functional organs to be made, many people will die waiting for the organs. But, if funding and support was provided, lives would be saved instead of lost. Stem cells should be used in more clinical

“Over 100 million Americans suffer from diseases that eventually may be treated more effectively or even cured with embryonic stem cell therapy. Some researchers regard this as the greatest potential for the alleviation of human suffering since the advent of antibiotics” (White). However, not everybody agrees with this. While embryonic stem cells offer much hope for medical advancement because of their ability to grow into almost any kind of cell, the moral debate of the destruction of an embryo continues. Embryonic stem cells are taken directly from an embryo before the embryo 's cells begin to develop into their specific cells. While there may be promise of embryonic stem cells triggering medical advancements, the ongoing controversy continues to hinder research.

1) How are stem cells different from normal cells? Why are these differences important for medical research?

Since the Middle Ages, and eras before that; diseases and cancer were ubiquitous in this dark world. Until that is, we went through scientific and medical breakthroughs in the Modern Era. We are now drawing on that drawing board, and that would be Stem Cell Research. The affirmation of Stem Cell Research should be amicable, religion should not hinder us away, as there are other ways to move forward without it being unethical. The potential of Stem Cell Research is very high and will be the torch for this era.

The idea of a chimera, a cross between species, has been around since the mythological creatures of ancient Greece, such as the centaur (a man’s torso with a horses body) and the griffin (the wings, head, and claws of an eagle and the body of a lion). Today, due to our advances in biotechnology, we are seeing this mythology become a reality, but in a different respect. Human-nonhuman animal chimeras are being developed by injecting animal blastocysts with human embryonic stem cells. The cells need to be injected at the right point in development, after the body plan of the animal has formed and before the immune system develops. It is done at this time to avoid

Parkinson’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, Sickle Cell Anemia, Alzheimer’s. This world is plague by countless diseases and there existed a time where, after many failed research attempts, scientists began to believe that people would always suffer from these diseases. However, with the introduction of stem cell research those past notions were dismissed. Upon their introduction, stem cell’s provided a new hope to the world and it proved itself to be an invaluable asset. Through stem cell research, a multitude of cures have been brought upon the world and these diseases that were uncontrollable in the past, can now be regulated and the ones suffering from now have a chance at living a better life. Sadly, there are many people who