The Human Of Human Cells

These cells come from fetuses which is why stem cells are such a controversial issue. In order to actually use embryonic cells, they must be harvested from an unborn baby that is in the early stages of life. Embryonic cells have the ability to be all 220 types of tissues in the human body. “This makes them ideal for regenerating diseased heart tissue, repairing spinal cords, and replenishing brain cells”, Elizabeth Svoboda, an author in the publicized Popular Science magazine, illustrates in her article about stem cells (60). Embryonic cells have limitless possibilities in medical advancement. These cells can become whatever type of cell a doctor program them to be. With the use of embryonic stem cells, doctors can cure several diseases, as well as curing people who have suffered injuries, but research is being slowed down by the ethical dilemma of aborting a

Once there is an understanding of how embryonic cells are taken from the body, it can be explained why they should be used contrary to the beliefs some people have. First, Embryonic cells can cure diseases. For example, if someone is paralyzed, doctors can take an embryonic cell and use this to cure the patient (nih.gov). A man named Rusty Leech, from Michigan, was able to regain sensation in his body, when he previously could not because of a car accident. Two months of physical therapy and embryonic stem cell injections enabled him to regain feeling below his waist again. He has regained limited muscle use to help him go to the bathroom and move his legs a little on his own. “The results were unbelievable, to feel the sensations in my body that weren’t

The controversy due to embryonic stem cells is quite debatable. Both sides present many strong reasons that prove their point, but it is still, frankly, nearly impossible to take a stand from an unbiased view. "This is the first study showing that embryonic stem cells can be used for brain and spinal cord repair in an animal model of a human neurological disease," said researcher Oliver BrŸstle (a neuropathologist at the University of Bonn in Germany) referring to the study done on rats (CNN). Just like Oliver BrŸstle many scientists around the world agree that embryonic stem cell show much welcomed hope of cure of spinal and brain repair. In addition to healing spinal and brain injuries, the embryonic stem cells can also treat diabetes, a disease which 54%

Before we determine how stem cells can treat various diseases including spinal cord injuries, let us first

There are many different types of stem-cells which can be implanted in patients to regenerate or replace the damaged or abnormal cells caused by not only diseases like Parkinson's but also Alzheimer's and spinal cord injuries (2). A specific example in relation to Parkinson's is the harvesting of embryonic stem cells. These human embryonic stem cells can be transplanted into the brain to replace and create dopamine neurons. The controversy is in how one can obtain these stem cells. During fertilization, in humans, the embryo is hollow and contains cells that eventually develop into a fetus (1). Researchers have discovered, as recently as 1998, that the cells in the embryo contain all

“I truly believe that stem cell research is going to allow our children to look at Alzheimer’s and diabetes and other major diseases the way we look at polio today, which is a preventable disease” (Solomon). Susan Solomon has founded the New York Stem Cell Foundation and has been seen as the hero for stem cell scientists around the world. Over the past couple years, stem cell research has been at its high; scientists all over the world are using these cells to try to find new ways to cure life threatening diseases. Some have used stem cells to treat patients who have been brain dead recently and these cells made the dead portion of the brain start functioning again. Also, some scientists and doctors have

In humans adult stem cells, not embryonic stem cells, have been used in therapies for more than forty years. People with blood disorders have used stem cell therapy to take the opportunity to improve upon their life. On the other hand, embryonic stem cells have a very high potential to treat or even cure numerous diseases like diabetes and heart disease. They are much more versatile in their usage compared to adult stem cells. Another practical use for embryonic stem cells is to treat damaged nerves ("Testing The Use…”). These nerves could have been impaired in a spinal cord injury. As of today, scientists have already performed stem cell transplants in people whose cells were damaged through chemotherapy of disease.

When an embryo should be considered an actual human has a variety of answers, “some have sought to reject that the early human embryo is a human being, according to one view, the cells that comprise the early embryo are a bundle of homogeneous cells that exist in the same membrane but do not form a human organism because the cells do not function in a coordinated way to regulate and preserve a single life”.(Siegel)

According to the World Health Organisation, around the world, between 250,000 and 500,000 people suffer from spinal cord injuries. People living with these spinal cord injuries are said to be 40% more likely to die prematurely than those who do not suffer from these particular injuries. One possible treatment that can be applied is the use of embryonic stem cells to help treat patients with spinal cord injuries. Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs), as their name suggest, are derived from the inner cell mass from an early stage, pre-implantation embryo, known as a blastocyst, from eggs which have been fertilized via in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Once consent has been given by the host, these pluripotent stem cells are then cultured and donated for research purposes. The Human Embryonic Stem Cells, (hESCs) serve a multitude of purposes, ranging from growing synthetic organisms, treating degenerative disease and also repairing damaged tissue. The omnipotence of hESCs allows them to have the potential to successfully treat spinal cord injuries by stimulation spinal cord neuronal regeneration. This method could be applied to save many patients lives as well as provide social and economic benefits. Consequently, however, the use of hESCs provides a highly controversial debate. Whilst this method may alleviate financial burdens of living with spinal cord injuries, the use of hESCs also arises many ethical issues concerning their use. Also, alternative solutions such

While embryonic stem cells can restore and repair tissue, there also can be a risk when inducing them into

Lee and George support their argument by providing three important facts that differentiate a human embryo is, in fact, a human being. First, they say that sex cells and somatic cells are part of a larger organism while the human embryo is a complete or whole organism, though immature (14). Secondly, they say that the embryo is human and has all the characteristics of a human being but the sex and somatic cells are genetically and functionally different because they cannot develop

Scientists and researchers believe that Human Embryonic Stem Cells hold potential cures for numerous diseases in today's society, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, Lou Gehrig's disease, Hodgkin's disease, hundreds of immune system and genetic disorders, spinal cord injuries, heart disease and just about every type of cancer. In today's world there's over a million Americans who suffer from deadly diseases, not only adults but innocent children that deserve to live a healthy life. These deadly diseases can be cured or treated in a more effective way than they are treated now with the help of the human embryonic stem cells. According to the Poll on "American views on stem cell research in the wake of the death of Ronald Reagan" which was prepared for results of America, shows that a sum of 73% highly supports and somewhat support this controversial process (Results of America, 2004). Even though this topic has brought continuous political attacks and very limited funding, Human Embryonic Stem cell research has made considerable contribution to the battle against disabilities and incurable diseases. A great example of success by using human embryonic stem cells was made by Dr. Hans Keirstead in the Roman Laboratory at UC Irvine; he restored myelin insulation around damaged nerves, returning motion to partially paralyzed rats. (Journal of Neuroscience, 2005) .

Embryonic stem cells are cells found in the human body that have not yet differentiated, or specialised meaning that they have not yet received the specific instructions to become a specific cell. They can be manipulated to turn into any kind of cell, for example, new skin cells for someone with melanoma. Stem cells are found in the placenta, umbilical blood, fat tissue, bone marrow and mew embryos. Embryonic stem cells have an advantage over the other sources of stem cells because the cells have less exposure to the outside world and are relatively easy to access, in situations like in vitro fertilization.

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).

Kidneys are one of the most essential organs in a human body which are crucial for blood filtration, toxins, and waste removal and maintaining and regulating the body’s pH. The researchers created kidney structures from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) called organoids which have the function and structural organization of a human fetal kidney in the first trimester. This study used the results of a previous study where human embryonic stem cells were differentiated towards a renal lineage. As a result, the progenitors for both collecting ducts and nephrons were generated from iPS. In that study, the researchers found out that although both nephrons and collecting ducts originate from the intermediate mesoderm layer, they develop at a different specific time and area from the mesoderm layer. The intermediate mesoderm layer is a germ layer arising from the mesoderm, and it is important in the development of kidneys, reproductive system, and lower urinary tract of the embryo. Thus, the scientists exploited this temporospatial origin difference, and they identified the regulating mechanism behind what caused the induction of collecting duct versus other kidney progenitors like the nephrons for instance. As a result of this finding, kidney organoids were formed which were segmented into distal and proximal tubules, loops of Henle, glomeruli, and podocytes which establish a vascularization network. This study is important in near future because it can be used as a model for