In August 2010, Hannah Warren, a Korean baby girl was born with no windpipe. When Hannah was delivered, she was blue, and her doctors had to force a tube down her throat so she could breathe properly. Following some tests, the doctors found that Hannah had been born without a trachea. Hannah’s parents were told most children in her condition didn’t survive, and that she had a very low chance as well. However, she continued to grow bigger and stronger, and her family kept searching the internet for possible treatments. The family found information concerning stem cells and their use in regenerative medicine, and learned about a physician who was creating windpipes out of stem cells and transplanting them into patients. The family got into contact with this doctor and the Children’s Hospital of Illinois at O.S.F. Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Illinois, and eventually Hannah underwent the treatment with impressive results. The doctors had successfully grown a new windpipe for Hannah out of her own cells and saved her life, while performing an innovative medical procedure (OSF Healthcare). Today, the field of regenerative medicine is still in its infancy. Scientists know very few definitive facts, yet Hannah’s story serves as a prime example of what we are able to do in the present, and what medical advances we can look forward to in the future. Even though very little is known about stem cells, scientists believe that they have the basics covered. Human stem cells are extraordinary cells that have the ability to transform into different cell types for a variety of specialized functions. Stem cells are also capable of regenerating or repairing the body. They are able to constantly reproduce and either continue being a stem... ... middle of paper ... ...ciety. Hug, Kristina. Sources of Human Embryonic Stem Cells. 25 July 2011. 25 April 2014. . Landau, Elizabeth. Cloning used to make stem cells from adult humans. 28 April 2014. Cable News Network. 2 May 2014. . OSF Healthcare. Hannah's Story. 30 April 2013. 31 April 2014. . Sample, Ian. Stem cell treatment repairs damaged hearts in monkeys. 30 April 2014. 1 May 2014. . U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health: Stem Cell Information. 28 April 2002. 23 April 2014. .
Irving, Dianne N. “Stem Cell Research: some Pro’s and Con’s.” physiciansforlife.ca. N.d. Web. 1 Jan 2011.
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...
Reaves, J. (2001, July 11). The great debate over stem cell research. Time, Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,167245,00.html
...velopment of tissues to replace damaged organs in the human body. Scientists have discovered for the first time how stem cells could be generated from embryo’s that were produced using adult stem cells.
20. D. Prockop, "Stem Cell Research Has Only Just Begun" (Letter), 293 Science 211-2 (13 July 2001)(citations omitted).
Stem cells can help cure diseases, repair damaged organs, and replace the need for organ donors. Stem cells may play a major role in cancer research, treatment, and maybe even a cure. Using stem cells in better treatments for diseases can give economic gains for society. According to the Mayo Clinic, over 100 million suffer from diseases that eventually may be treated more effectively or even cured with embryonic stem cell research (“Stem Cell Transplant”). This may be the greatest opportunity to alleviate the suffering of humans. Stem cell research has a lot of potential; there is a long list of diseases and other conditions that stem cells may be able to treat and possibly one day
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Research on stem cells is advancing knowledge about how an organism develops from a single cell and how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult organisms. This promising area of science is also leading scientists to investigate the possibility of cell-based therapies to treat disease, which is often referred to as regenerative or reparative medicine. There is genuine scientific excitement over the concept of using the body's own cellular building blocks to regenerate damaged or ageing organs. Stem cells are one of the most fascinating areas of biology today. But like ...
Lanza, Tyler. "The Stem Cell Research Controversy." Stem Cell History. N.p., January 5, 2011. Web. 16 Feb 2012.
Stem Cell Basics. In Stem Cell Information [World Wide Web site] Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009 [cited Friday, November 08, 2013] Available at stemcells.nih.gov