Embryonic and Adult Stem Cell Research

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Stem cell research is one of the most widely expanding areas of scientific research being conducted all over the world today. In basic terms, stem cell research is the research of stem cells; however in actuality is much more complicated. A stem cell is a cell with the ability to develop into any of the cell types that make up the tissues and organs of the body. This makes these cells highly useful and provides endless opportunities in the field of regenerative medicine. There are two expansive lines of stem cell research, which involve multipotent stem cells and pluripotent stem cells. Multipotent stem cells are stem cells which can only specialise into cells of the same type of tissue, for example muscle stem cells can only become specialised muscle cells. This type of stem cell are known as adult stem cells and are found in the brain, muscles, skin, bone marrow and other fully developed parts of the body (see Appendix One for diagram). On the other hand, pluripotent stem cells can differentiate and specialise into any cell of the body (see Appendix Two for diagram). These are embryonic stem cells which are found in embryos that are five to seven days old. In 2006, Shinya Yamanaka, a scientist in Japan discovered that stem cells could also be generated from mature, fully specialised cells. These stem cells are known as induced pluripotent stem cells, and are reprogrammed so that they can mimic embryonic stem cells and become every type of cell. There is much difficulty in the research of adult stem cells, as they are hard to grow and differentiate under lab conditions, and there is still research being conducted with the induced pluripotent stem cells on the extent of their ability to differentiate, and whether they are still be... ... middle of paper ... ...[ONLINE] Available http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/stemcell/overview.php (Accessed 30 March 2014) PBS – Religion and Ethics Newsweekly (2001) Religious Views on Stem Cell Research [ONLINE] Available http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2001/07/27/july-27-2001-religious-views-on-stem-cell-research/15307/ (Accessed 30 March 2014) ‘Stem cell’ (2014) World Book Encyclopedia, 2014 edn, Chicago, IL: World Book Inc. 18:889 Stem Cells Australia (2014) About Stem Cells [ONLINE] Available http://www.stemcellsaustralia.edu.au/About-Stem-Cells.aspx (Accessed 29 March 2014) Thomas, I. (2012) What is the Controversy with Stem Cell Research?, London: Raintree Publishing. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – National Institutes of Health (2009) Stem Cell Basics [ONLINE] Available http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/pages/basics6.aspx (Accessed 30 March 2014)

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