What Are Stem Cells?

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.

“How can the use of stem cells be so controversial?”, one may ask. If the stem cells are donated out of free will or were going to be destroyed anyway, how can putting them to better use be controversial? Sure, a potential life must be destroyed to save a life, but only before one can tell that it is a human. Should the use of stem cells for medical research and use be regulated? These questions and more will be discussed and pondered throughout this paper.

Tissue specific stem cells can create different cells for different organs and are obtained from different organs and tissues. Embryonic stem cells can increase every cell type in an adult body and are obtained from the blastocyst, a ball of cells formed a couple of days after an egg cell is fertilized. Mesenchymal stem cells are typically obtained from bone marrow and can produce bone and fat cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells are made in a science lab by changing tissue specific cells into embryonic cells and they help scientists research normal development.

All the human embryonic stem cell lines currently in use come from four to five-day-old embryos left over from in-vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures. In IVF, researchers mix a man 's sperm and a woman 's eggs together in a lab dish. Some of those eggs will become fertilized. At about five days the egg has divided to become a hollow ball of roughly 100 cells called a blastocyst which is smaller than the size of the dot over an “i”. ("Myths and Misconceptions About Stem Cell Research.")

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.

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

Until two scientists isolated the first embryonic stem cells in 1981 (stemcell.child), the controversy in embryonic stem cell research was never discussed. For, an embryo was never able to survive outside of the womb until then; however, today, this topic is widely discussed among ethicists, medical professions, politicians, and more for several reasons. On one side of the argument, embryonic stem cells have the capability of repairing damaged tissue, and with further research it is believed that these cells will be able to cure or provide relief to several diseases and disabilities seen today. On the other hand, embryonic stem cell research is seen as morally unjust because it is seen as the destruction of a potential human life

Stem cells are cells within the body that have the ability to grow and reproduce repeatedly into any type of mature cell. They are unspecialized cells that divide through mitosis to produce more stem cells that replace cells in the system in which they are found. Stems cells make it possible for the body to renew and repair its damaged tissues. They are also vital in the development of human life. Stem cells are high potential cells, and this makes them a top focus in the biomedical research world. (Stem Cell Basics, 2009) This paper will discuss the background, function, and other aspects of stem cells.

Stem cells can become many different cell types. There are three main types; totipotent, pluripotent, and multipotent. They have already have been successful in treating some diseases and have the potential to cure many other diseases. Stem cells have also been very useful in drug testing. However they have caused a lot of controversy, but some technology has helped settle this controversy.

For starters, a stem cell is an undifferentiated cell that is capable of regenerating itself or becoming induced into a specific tissue or organ for specialized functions under certain physiological functions. All stem cells have the following three things in common: they are capable of renewing and dividing themselves over an extended period of time, they are not specialized, and they are able to give rise

There is a variety of sources from which stem cells may be obtained. These sources include (but are not limited to): human embryos, the blood from the umbilical cord, and even various organs from full grown adults. However, as I have mentioned before, the controversy emanates from the fact that human embryos are the preferred source for stem cells, due to their vast regenerative capabilities. While it is possible to safely harvest stem cells from full grown adults (adult stem cells), the stem cells harvested would lack the pluripotency (ability to become any specialized cell) of embryonic stem cells; whereas embryonic stem cells can differentiate into any cell, adult stem cells can only become specialized cells from the tissue in which they reside (multipotency). For example, hematopoietic stem cells— found in the bone marrow of adults— can become all mature blood cell types, but cannot become muscle cells or any other type of cell found in the body. Similar to adult stem cells, most of the other sources

There are two main kinds of stem cells; embryonic and adult cells. “Embryonic stem cells are derived from a four- or five-day-old

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells within the body that are defined by their ability to self renew and differentiate into specialized cells (1). Stem cells function in body tissues as a repair mechanism, with an unlimited ability to divide and restock cells as needed by the body. Each time a stem cell divides, the new cell formed can either remain a stem cell or differentiate into a specialized cell, such as a brain cell. Traditionally, there are two main types of stem cells: human embryonic stem cells [HESCs] and adult somatic stem cells. In 1981,embryonic stem cells were the first type of stem cell to be discovered (2). Embryonic stem cells originate from four-to-five day old embryos formed during the blastocyst phase of embryological development. The embryos used to derive stem cells are usually extras that were created using in vitro fertilization and not implanted (2).

There are three primary types of stem cells known to researchers as of today: embryonic stem cells, “somatic” or adult stem cells, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC; Bethesda, 2015). An adult tissue is considered regenerative if tissue-specific stem cell populations are able to maintain their numbers and have the capacity to differentiate into distinct cell lineages (Miletich, 2004).

Embryonic stem cells which can be taken from the embryo. According to the National Institutes of Health (2016), “Embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos. Most embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that develop from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro and then donated for research purposes with informed consent of the donors.” These cells can develop and form any tissues in a living organism. The adult stem cells are cells of the body. The National Institutes of Health 92016) states “The adult stem cell can renew itself and can differentiate to yield some or all of the major specialized cell types of the tissue or organ. The primary roles of these cells are to maintain and repair the tissue in which they are found.” The adult stem cells are found in many tissues and organ systems in children and adults. Lastly, the induced pluripotent stem cells are genetically modified and reprogramed cells to embryonic stem cells. They are divided and grown in a laboratory