Amanda Solan
Comp Ⅲ
Mr. Hann
27 March 2018
Stem Cells
Thesis: Stem cells are beneficial to the advancement of healthcare.
Introduction
ⅠDid you know stem cells can differentiate to almost any cell type or tissue? Stem cells are undifferentiated cells, which means with stimulation they can form into almost any cell type or even tissue. Stem cells are found in only two places, so it is hard to harvest them. They can be found in blastocysts, an undeveloped embryo, or in adult tissues such as bone marrow. Stem cells may be difficult to obtain, but they hold endless possibilities for the healthcare field. They can be used for a vast majorities of reasons, but three reasons that will be discussed in this paper are for treating diseases, regrowing
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Patients have reported the following improved quality of life benefits associated with Multiple Sclerosis: increased balance and coordination, reduction or elimination of numbness and tingling sensations, increased energy and endurance, improved focus, reduction or elimination of muscle spasms, increased mobility, improved memory, speech improvement, and improved sense of touch” (Stem Cell Centers).
Just by using stem cells, we can help reduce the symptoms of people with this disease. We can give people live a better life where their disease is easier to handle. Another disease that stem cells can help treat is heart disease. Heart disease includes a plethora of complications including irregular heart beats, heart attacks, heart defects, strokes, and more. Almost everyone knows someone who is affected from some type of heart related disease. Stem cells can be used to study the heart and how it works so that we can treat these diseases.
“Scientists also use various types of stem cells to study the heart’s natural repair mechanisms and test ways to enhance those repair functions. The evidence we have so far suggest thats the heart may have a limited number of cardiac stem cells that may conduct some repair and replacement functions throughout an individual’s life, but we don’t know where they live in the heart or how they become activated”(2015
Stem cells are the building blocks of the human body. Embryos consist of unspecialized stem cells that transform into the various specialized cells in the body such as cardiac, muscle or bone cells. Fetuses also have stem cells. However, the stem cells are divided into types like muscle, bone or nerves and don't perform a specialized function. Surprisingly, adult bodies also contain stem cells. In adults, stem cells are undifferentiated but limited to specific tissue type. When needed, the stem cells transform into the cells needed for repair and maintenance. The most common source of adult stem cells is bone marrow. Researchers also acquire stem cells from umbilical cords. Without stem cells, embryos could not develop into fetuses and adult
Brendan Maher, in his article “How to Build a Heart” discusses doctor’s and engineer’s research and experimentation into the field of regenerative medicine. Maher talks about several different researchers in this fields. One is Doris Taylor, the director of regenerative medicine at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston. Her job includes harvesting organs such as hearts and lungs and re-engineering them starting with the cells. She attempts to bring the back to life in order to be used for people who are on transplant waiting lists. She hopes to be able to make the number of people waiting for transplants diminish with her research but it is a very difficult process. Maher says that researchers have had some successes when it comes to rebuilding organs but only with simples ones such as a bladder. A heart is much more complicated and requires many more cells to do all the functions it needs to. New organs have to be able to do several things in order for them to be used in humans that are still alive. They need to be sterile, able to grow, able to repair themselves, and work. Taylor has led some of the first successful experiments to build rat hearts and is hopeful of a good outcome with tissue rebuilding and engineering. Scientists have been able to make beating heart cells in a petri dish but the main issue now is developing a scaffold for these cells so that they can form in three dimension. Harold Ott, a surgeon from Massachusetts General Hospital and studied under Taylor, has a method that he developed while training. Detergent is pumped into a glass chamber where a heart is suspended and this detergent strips away everything except a layer of collagen, laminins, and other proteins. The hard part according to Ott is making s...
Stem Cells: What, How and Why? Stem cells are infinitely valuable when considering their potential applications in the medical profession. While current legislative restrictions have halted the development of new ?stem cell lines? to any agency or company that receives any form of governmental grants, there is no question that the medical profession is standing at the brink of a new era of technological advancements in healthcare and research.
Bone marrow is the flexible tissue in the interior of bones. Hematopoiesis is when the red blood cells are formed by cores of bone marrow in the ends of lengthy bones. Bone marrow comprises 4% of the total of a person’s body mass. Bone marrow transplants treat severe diseases of the bone marrow, including specific forms of cancer. And so many people don’t receive the proper transplant they need. Paying people for their bone marrow would help to solve that situation but it’s harmful for the patience, unethical, and could potentially be risky for donors.
1989 came with a boom as it molded the course of history – The Galileo Spacecraft launched by NASA flew up, the Berlin Wall tumbled down, and the massacre of Tiananmen Square left the city of Beijing in turmoil. Interestingly, a lesser known event swung the world of science in a complete 180. Scientists used embryonic stem cells to fabricate the first mice ever to lack assigned genes (Making). Just over a decade later, and following numerous embryonic stem cell discoveries, former U.S. president George W. Bush, authorized the use of federal funds for limited human embryonic stem cell research (Human). So, aiming for progress, mankind launched this new and exciting expedition. Nonetheless, in a culture that so readily promotes whatever promises a brighter future without weighing the means, we need to recognize the immorality of HESC testing. By exploiting these tiny humans in their foremost stages of development, the scientists behind this commit a heinous crime –
Scientists would be able to grow spinal cells from pluripotent stem cells. These cells could possibly repair spinal cord damage. Those afflicted by paralysis, such as Christopher Reeve, could possibly move again. Stem cells could also be used to grow nerve cells, possibly combating Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s. While it will be many years before scientists may actually be able to find a way to combat these diseases, there is a great promise in stem cells.
Stem cells are a type of unspecialized cells that can revive themselves through the process of cell division (Abdel-Salam and Oma, 2011). They have a phenomenal potential to differentiate into other specific cell types in a living organism. These cells can also be activated to turn into organ-specific cells or tissues with defined activity but only under specific experimental set-up. Stem cells have the ability to remain as they are or divide further to renew deteriorated and damaged tissue cells. Recently it has been discovered that stem cells can be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, but still a lot of clinical trials are being conducted to find a specific government approved treatment.
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...
...n years. Matching a human heart to a particular person is difficult. Most families describe the hardest part of the heart replacement procedure to be the wait for a matching heart. Some people never find one and have to accept that their child will be outlived by them. People are suffering and dying. If embryonic stem cells were researched more, healing damaged hearts would be easier and more effective. Patients and families wouldn’t have to wait months or years to receive a heat to help their children, mothers, sisters, or brothers.
These cells exist throughout the body after embryonic development, they are found inside different types of tissue (organs) of the body such as the brain, bone marrow, blood, blood vessels, skeletal muscles, skin and the liver. They remain in a non-dividing state for years until activated by a disease or tissue injury. Adult stem cells, which are also called somatic stem cells, these cells can only produce specialized cells for that particular tissue type. Somatic stem cells are used as treatment for blood related diseases such as leukemia. Most types of somatic cells are present in low abundance and are difficult to isolate and grow in culture.
Have you ever seen a movie or read a book where they can tell what your child will look like or if they have a disease or birth defect. Or have you ever wondered how the world would be shaped if we could have clones or even erase genetic diseases. All of these things are theoretically possible with stem cell research. If we are able to reach this point what would we have to sacrifice in the process. To understand humanity would we have to sacrifice the values that truly make us human? What would the fail rate be if we are able to genetically enhance the human body?
Stem cells are an ongoing research project in which new discoveries are being made about them, and researchers are learning how to use them in new ways. The three current kinds of stem cells all prove to have their own challenges when it comes to using them. The important thing is finding out which stem cell is right for the patient and how much of an ethical concern there is when it comes to using the stem cell. As we learn the best way to use them and they become more popular in the medical field, stem cells will become a new weapon in the fight against certain diseases.
“Stem Cells: The Future of Medicine.” Medschool.umaryland.edu. University of Maryland School of Medicine Web 14 Nov 2013
“What are the potential uses of human stem cells and the obstacles that must be overcome before these potential uses will be realized?” . InStem Cell Information. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009.
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.