Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have the capacity to have a widespread impact on biomedical research and therapeutic approaches to an array of diseases and disorders. These stem cells are of extreme potency because they can self-renew in culture while maintaining the capability to become virtually any cell type (Zhu and Huangfu, 2013). While there are many ethical concerns regarding embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells arise from adult somatic cells that can be reprogrammed to enter the pluripotent state and have similar characteristics of embryonic stem cells such as having normal karyotypes, expression of telomerase activity, cell surface markers and genes, as well as mature and differentiate into advanced derivatives of the primary germ layers (Yu et al., 2007). These features are of great utility because they give insight to developmental biology and are extremely useful in the emerging field of regenerative medicine. This paper discusses the methods of which human somatic cells are reprogrammed allowing the generation of disease-specific and patient-specific pluripotent cell lines that can provide immense promise in regenerative medicine.
Embryonic Stem Cells
Embryonic stem cells (ESC) are cells that have the ability to grow indefinitely, maintain pluripotency and differentiate into all three germ layers. In 1981, two groups first derived them from the inner cell mass of mouse blastocyst and showed that ESCs arise from totipotent cells of the mammalian embryo, have normal karyotypes and are able to have unlimited and undifferentiated proliferation in vivo (Evans and Kaufman, 1981; Martin 1981). A decade later, Thomson et al. derived the first human embryonic stem cell lines (hESC) from cultured human b...
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Yamanaka, S. 2007. Strategies and new developments in the generation of patient-specific pluripotent stem cells. Cell Stem Cell.1:39–49.
Yu, J., Vodyanik, M. A., Smuga-Otto, K., Antiosiewicz-Bourget, J., Frane, J. L., Tian, S., Nie, J., Jonsdottir, G. A., Ruotti, V., Stewart, R., Slukvin, I. I., Thomson, J. A. 2007. Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human Somatic Cells. Science. 318:1917-1920
Zhu. Z and Huangfu, D. 2013. Human Pluripotent Stem Cells: an emerging model in developmental biology. Development. 140:705-717.
The cells unique nature has scientists intrigued to do research with the focus of finding a way that these cells can be used to replace patients’ injured or diseased tissues. Advancement is made to all the three types of stem cells namely embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells in addition to induced pluripotent cells. Embryonic cells are the building blocks of an embryo that is developing, and can develop into almost all body cell types. Somatic cells are found in the body tissues. They renew and regenerate in healthy bodies. The third type which is induced pluripotent is genetically modified embryo cells from skin cells.2 Research on these cells are geared towards saving humanity; a noble course.
“The vast potential of human embryonic stem cells does not come without a cost: a human embryo.” (Introduction)
Human embryonic stem cells are derived from fertilized embryos which are less than a week old. In November of...
Stem cells have been under intense research because of their remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types within the body. Under certain experimental conditions, they can be induced to become tissue specific cells with special functions. When the human stem cell was first discovered, researchers primarily utilized embryonic stem cells (ESCs), undifferentiated cells derived from a 5-day preimplantation embryo known to develop into cells and tissues of the three primary germ layers (Rippon and Bishop 2004). Because the extractions of human ESCs result in the destruction of an embryo, stem cell research has been highly controversial. However, recent advances have allowed the creation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), somatic (adult) cells that have been “reprogrammed” into a pluripotent state. (Takahashi et al. 2007). In this paper, I propose that human induced pluripotent stem cells be more strongly considered as a model for studying human development. Strengths and weaknesses of using the hiPSCs as a model, as well as the methods of inducing pluripotency will be discussed and reviewed.
Late one night a woman is driving home on the freeway, she’s hit head on by a drunk driver and killed. The man is charged with two accounts of murder; the woman, and her four-week-old embryo inside her. By law, everyone human being is guaranteed rights of life; born or unborn they are equal. The same law should be enforced concerning human embryonic stem cell research. Dr. James A. Thomson discovered stem cells in 1998 and they’ve intrigued scientist ever since. The stem cells themselves are derived from a three to four day old cluster of cells called a blastocyst and they are so coveted because they are pluripotent, meaning they can differentiate into any type of cell in the human body. Although embryonic stem cells show amazing potential to cure various disease such as cancer, congestive heart failure, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophies, and more. The methods by which they are obtained is controversial. Research on embryonic stem cells is unethical, unnecessary, and purely homicide.
Stem cells are pluripotent cells of the body which are “undifferentiated.” This means that stem cells can ultimately give rise to any type of body tissue. Thus stem cells have the potential to cure a vast number of diseases and physical ailments including Parkinson’s, diabetes, spinal cord injury, and heart disease. Consequently, stem cell research and the development of associated medical applications are of great interest to the scientific and medical community. The area of stem cell research involving human embryonic stem cells is of particular interest in that embryonic stem cells are derived from week-old blastocysts developed from in vitro fertilized eggs. As opposed to adult stem cells, which must undergo a complicated process of de-differen...
Stem cell research began in 1956 when Dr. E Donnall Thomas performed the first bone marrow transplant (“Adult stem cells are not more promising,” 2007). Since that time, research has evolved into obtaining cells from a variety of tissues. According to stem cell research professors, Ariff Bongso and Eng Hin Lee (2005), “Stem cells are unspecialized cells in the human body that are capable of becoming cells, each with new specialized functions” (p. 2). Stem cells are in various adult tissues, such as bone marrow, the liver, the epidermis layer of skin, the central nervous system, and eyes. They are also in other sources, such as fetuses, umbilical cords, placentas, embryos, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are cells from adult tissues that have been reprogrammed to pluripotency. Most stem cells offer multipotent cells, which are sparse...
This report does a fairly comprehensive job on educating the public to the definition of stem cells, describing them as “a diverse group of remarkable multipotent cells that are relatively undifferentiated and unspecialized cells of the body.” Stem cells have the capacity for unlimited self-renewal and the possibility to produce differentiated descendant cell types. The main in...
Embryonic stem cells are derived from a four or five day old human embryo that is in the blastocyst phase of development (see figure 5). The embryo’s that are used for stem cell research, are extra’s that have been created in IVF clinics (in vitro fertilization), that are no longer needed. Embryonic stem cells are totipotent (cells with the potential to develop into any cells in the body). Scientists have discovered an alternative to embryonic stem cells, these cells ...
The importance of embryonic stem cells rests in their lack of specialization. These basic cells are present in the earliest stages of developing embryos and are able to develop into virtually any type of cell and tissue in the body. Being self-renewing, they offer a potentially limitless source of cells and tissue. (Tucker)
“Top Ten Things to Know About Stem Cell Treatments.” Www.closerlookatstemcells.org ISSCR. Web 1 November 2013
Those who favour stem cell research are optimistic about the continued developments in stem cell research will open doors to many breakthrough discoveries in biomedical science. The scientific and ethical questions arise as rapidly as the reaching of milestones in stem cell research. There are two main types of stem cells, namely embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells in our body. But they have restricted-range of cells that they can further differentiate. On the contrary, embryonic stem cells have the ability to differentiate into nearly two hundred cell types in the human body, called pluripotency. The process of harvesting embryonic stem cells involves destruction of embryos (Mooney, 2009).
Encyclopedia of Stem Cell Research.
Could you imagine being able to create new organs, tissues, muscles, and even food? With embryonic stem cell technology, believe it or not, these things are possible. Stem cells are the body's raw materials. Specifically, they are cells from which all other cells with specialized functions are generated. Under the right conditions in the body or in a laboratory, stem cells can divide to form more cells called daughter cells. These daughter cells either become new stem cells or turn into specialized cells with a more specific function, such as blood cells, brain cells, muscle cells or bone cells. The possibilities are almost endless. The debate and main issue with this technology is that the actual stem cells come from embryos. Embryos are an unborn or unhatched offspring in the process of development. Although there is controversy surrounding these cells, embryonic stem cells should continue to be researched and used, because they have so much potential.
Opposing Viewpoints offers unbiased opinions on the future of embryonic research as well as how they have currently been used to cure many diseases. In addition, the article specifies how developing ethical standards to ensure that the use of embryos remains moral, allows for science to remain ethical. Many of the topics mentioned in this viewpoint consider bioethics and remain consistent throughout. Essentially, the purpose of this article was to establish a middle ground between ethics and science.