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Argument about stem cells
Impact of stem cells in the medical field
Stem cell research and ethical issues surrounding the topic
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Stem cell research is a topic almost everybody in the world has a viewpoint on. Many view the issue of stem cell research and stem cell therapy as morally wrong and a crime against humanity, others view the study of stem cells as the next step in modern science. What are stem cells? Stem cells are non-specialized cells that have the capability to mature into more specified cells to help with certain functions or diseases. Cells are the basic building blocks of the human body and these tiny structures compose the skin, muscles, bones, and all of our internal organs. Cells are necessary for our body to live, there are over one-hundred specialized cells in our body. Stem cell research should be supported due to the plethora of potential benefits to the medical community and the human race as a whole.
Medicine today is moving quickly to make more effective cures for diseases and new techniques for treating illness. One of the new techniques being practiced today is stem cell therapy. Stem cell therapy can be defined as a group of new techniques, or technologies, that rely on replacing diseased or dysfunctional cells with healthy, functioning ones. ( Langwith 23) These new techniques are being used to treat a wide variety of disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease and Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
To be able to comprehend the importance of the discovery of stem cells, it is crucial to understand the terms and definitions that go along with the topic of stem cells. A stem cell is derived from a human embryo, scientists are able to keep these stem cells alive and have them replicate after extraction. A human embryo comes into existence from the joining of one sperm and one egg, after the embryo is formed it begins to replicate itself. After ab...
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...tself, and can differentiate to yield the major specialized cell types of the tissue or organ. (Langwith 192) The greatest advantage of adult stem cells is that it’s usually possible to use a person’s own stem cells which is the safest stem cell option for people. (Langwith 192)
The adult stem cell may help cure diseases ranging from diabetes to Parkinson’s disease. Although adult stem cells have the potential to cure certain diseases, they are limited in number, where as the embryonic stem cells have an abundance of versatile cells. Regardless of the type of stem cells, stem cells are the future of modern science and should be pursued due to the potential benefits it may bring.
Works Cited
Langwith, Jacqueline, ed. Stem Cells. Farmington hills: Greenhaven, 2007. Print.
Human embryo experimentation. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, Thomson/Gale, 2002. Print
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
The wide range of prospective uses for stem cells could greatly improve the health and wellbeing of many people. In stem cell treatments, undifferentiated cells are programmed to form specific cells, which can then be transplanted to the afflicted area. Stems cells can possibly treat afflictions including “Alzheimer’s diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis” (“Stem Cell Basics”). Another important use is in drug testing. Drugs can be tested on stem cells that develop into the target tissue before using it on human test subjects, which improves safety. Finally, transplantation of organs created from stem cells could eliminate the need for human...
Stem cell research: Stem cells are cells that are at an early stage of development. This means they have the ability to turn into any type of cell in the body. Some research is currently focusing on whether stem cells can be turned into muscle cells and used to regenerate damaged muscle tissue (American Thoracic Society Consensus Statement, 2004).
In 2001 scientist attempted to create a cloned human embryo, they had consulted all the necessary sources before getting the “ok” to begin “creating”. Then they had to find a female subject to donate eggs. To start the process of cloning they need to use a very fine needle and get the genetic information from a mature egg. Then they inject it into the nucleus of a donor cell. The female donors were asked to take psychological and physical tests to screen for diseases and what not.
8. "Stem Cell Basics." National Institutes of Health. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2009. Web. .
Because stem cells are essentially a blank slate, scientists are theoretically capable of growing any human tissue cell. There is enormous medical potential in this. Stem cell research is the next step in advancing the medical field. It is comparable to the discovery of penicillin or the inoculation for smallpox.
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.
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can differentiate themselves into specific cell type. There are two types of stem cells. The first one is the adult's stem cell. These stem cells can be found in various places in an adult human body, like the brain, the bone marrow or the liver. The other type of stem cells is the embryonic stem cells. These cells are found in embryos before its implantation in the mother's uterus. At this stage the embryo is divided in two types of cell. The first one is the outer cluster of cell that forms the embryo that will become part of the placenta once the embryo hatch. And the inner cluster is the source of embryonic stem cell since it consists of undifferentiated cell that will divide and differentiate to form all the organs and tissue needed in an adult organism. As stem cell are undifferentiated cell they can become whatever cell type is needed in an organism and could be the solution to diseases that are, at this date, incurable. (Medical News Today, 2013). Most of the ethic's problem of the stem cells researches come from the embryonic stem cell researches and how the cells are collected. Embryonic stem cells can be obtained in several ways. The first one is after a couple's fertility treatment, there might be some embryos left and the couple can decide to donate their embryos to research. The second option is to collect stem cells from a foetus after an abortion. And the last possibility is to use therapeutic cloning. Using an ovum from witch the nucleus was taken off and the nucleus of a somatic cell, the origin of this cell in the body doesn't matter, it can come from the skin for example, it is possible to create an embryo and get the stem cell from the created embryo. But in all of...
For decades, biologists have been using stem cells to figure out possible cures for different diseases and even prevent them. Stem cells are cells that can become useable in certain tissues in the body (according to an infant), or tissue cells that are already found in blood, bones, the brain, and skin (in adults or children). Stem cells are being used for patients with lymphoma (begins in the immune system), leukemia (cancer of white blood cells), and other types of blood disorders.
Stem cell research is on the forefront of regenerative medicine and biological science. It is the study of certain cells in the inner mass of the embryo that are produced a few days after the embryo forms during the blastocyst stage. They are the most primitive of all human cells. They are undifferentiated cells, which mean the cells are not designated to be any special type of cell, such as a nerve, muscle, or skin cell. The cell's specialization is later influenced by the molecules, which are usually proteins that surround the cell (Marshak 220-223). The proteins are typically produced by the mother, but under certain laboratory conditions, distinctive proteins can be introduced and a definite, mature cell type is produced. The cells that are produced could be implanted into a subject to replace worn out cells, or cells that have been destroyed due to disease or injury.
Monroe, Kristen, et al., eds. Fundamentals of the Stem Cell Debate: The Scientific, Religious, Ethical and Political Issues. Los Angeles/Berkley: University of California Press, 2008. Print
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).
Stem cells are located deep down in our bone marrow. They have the incredible ability of “generating an endless supply of red cells, white cells, and platelets”(1). They have been called the “Mother of all blood cells” due to their ability to regenerate the entire blood supply of a persons body. Just to think that this is possible is actually pretty incredible. The man who claims to be responsible for the discovery of this gem is a immunologist from Stanford University named Irving Weissman, and his collaborators at SyStemix, (a biotech company that he cofounded in 1988, located in Palo Alto, CA). He and his company are so confident about these cells, not only have they obtained a government patent on the process by which these specific cells are separated from other cells, they have also patented the cells themselves. They have even convinced Sandoz Ltd. (a giant Swiss drug-and-chemical company) to purchase 60 percent of the stock for SyStemix for a reported 392 million dollars.
Anderson, Ryan. "Stem Cells: A Political History." First Things. First Things, November, 2008. Web. 10 Feb 2012.
In order to discover the ways for the remedy of diseases, studies in therapeutic approaches have been doing widely and kept increasing at accelerated pace. A lot of research areas had emerged for that purpose including one of the most fascinating and highly active areas at present, stem cells therapies. Due to self-renewal property and differentiation capability of stem cell, it becomes a new hope in modern treatment.