AngelicaLangford Engl2010 KatherineSanders 8March,2014 StemCellsReport Whatistheuseofstemcellresearch?Isitusefulintodayssociety?

Arestemcellsjustaway

tokillembryosorawaytocreatenewlife?Inmyresearch,thisiswhatIfoundtheanswerstothese questions.Astemcellisdefinedasanundifferentiatedcellofamulticellularorganismthatiscapableof givingrisetoindefinitelymorecellsofthesametype,andfromwhichcertainotherkindsofcellsariseby differentiation.(Crosta)Thatmeansthatthesesuperspecialcellscanactuallyhelpothercellsinthe humanbodyregrow,regenerate,ormakesomethingnew.Therearetwotypesofstemcells:adultstem cellsandembryonicstemcells. Adult(somatic)stemcellsarecellsthataredevelopedafterembryonicdevelopment.These typesofcellscanvaryandbeinalldifferentkindsoftissuesthroughoutthebody.Thesetissuescan remaininanidle(nondividing)stateforyearsuntilthebodyisinjuredorinfected.Thehumanbrain, bonemarrow,blood,bloodvessels,skeletalmuscles,skin,andliverareallapartofthetissuesthat thesestemcellscanbeinside.Thesespecialtypesofcellscandividethemselvesquicklytocomeacross cellsofaspecificorganorregenerateoneentirely.(Crosta) Ontheotherhand,embryonicstemcellsareverydifferentthansomaticstemcells.Embryonic stemcellsareusedalotlikestemcells,butcametobeadifferentway.Thesestemcellsarederived fromafivetosixdayoldembryo(calledablastocyst)whohastwoseparatelayers.Onelayergoesinto

creationoftheplacenta,andonelayerformsanadultorganism.Thelayerthatformsanadultorganism iswhatisused,becausetheyhaveapotentialtodevelopintoanycellinthebody(Crosta).Thislayeris extractedmostlyduringInVitrofertilization,theprocessinwhichoneembryo(amongstmanyothersin testtubes)isselectedtoplaceintoawomanandtherestareleftover.(Togel)Sowhatdoesallofthis informationmean?Whycanthissuperbformofsciencechangethefaceofmedicineasweknowit? Letslookattheusesofstemcells,andwhatresultscanoccurfromextractingandmaintainingthem. Stemcellsareusedtoregenerateorgans,helpwithheart,brain,andblooddiseases,andcreate skingraftsforburnvictims.Stemcellsareusedinmanydifferentwaystotreatspecificillnesses,butthe technologybehindthemisevenmoreinteresting.Stemcellsareextractedfromthehumanbody,and canbeusedincertainmachinessuchassprayskingunstohelpburnvictimsrecoverandreturnbackto whattheynormallylookedlike.Thatisamazing,thebestpartaboutstemcellsisthatcanbeusedto literallycreateorgansandtissues,suchasthehumanbladder,kidney,andear.(Urol)Moreandmore researchisdoneeverydaytofigureouthowtobuildevenmoreimportantorganssuchasthehuman heart.EverythingIamexplainingseemstobeanincrediblediscoveryforscientists,soyoushouldthink, thateverybodyaroundtheworldusesthem.Butthatsnotthecase. Physiciansallovertheworlduseadultstemcells,however,manycountriesinEuropehave bannedembryonicstemcellusageduetothecontroversialissuesitarises,suchaswhendoeslifebegin, andwhattoclassifyasmurder.Theuseofembryosformedduringtheblastocystphaseof embryologicaldevelopment(embryonicstemcells)canbeverycontroversial.Itconstructsarguments fromthesamepeoplearguingaboutabortion.Theprolifeactivistsandprochoiceactivists.Thereason theseargumentsariseisduetohowtheseembryosareused.Theembryosarecreatedfromafemale eggandmalesperm,buttheuseisntfordevelopingachild,theuseistocuredisease.Sotheargument

amongstpeopleis:isnotlettingthisembryodevelopandgrowintoahumanbeingconsideredabortion? Andisabortionconsideredmurder?Youcandiscernforyourself,butthatsthebiggestcontroversy withtheusageofstemcells.Besidesalloftheargument,theusesofstemcellshavebroughtmedically brilliantresults. Therearemanycasesinwhichstemcellshavebeenextremelysuccessful.Bloodcellsmade fromstemcellshavebeensuccessfulintreatingmultipleblooddiseasessuchasleukemiaandsicklecell disease.BraindiseasessuchasparkinsonsandAlzheimershavebeentreatedwithtissuereplacements withtheuseofstemcells.Bloodvesselshavebeencreatedbystemcells,andhavebeenusedtotreat heartdisease.Thehealthpossibilitiesofstemcellsareendless,andnewdiscoveriesarebeingmade everyday. Stemcellresearchisextremelyabundantaroundtheworld,withhopesofbuildingfully functionalvitalhumanorgansandtissues.Becauseofthecontroversialissues,thefundingforstemcell researchisminimal,butwhetheryoulikethemornot,theyregoingtogetfundedsomehow.The instinctivehumancuriosityaboutstemcellshasgottenthemasfarastheyhavegotten.Theyaretruly interestingpiecesofthemagnificentpuzzlewecallthehumanbody.

WorksCited Crosta,Peter."WhatAreStemCells?"MedicalNewsToday.MediLexiconInternational,19July 2013.Web.06Mar.2014. Eberli,Daniel."MedicineTissueEngineeringandRegenerativeMedicine."TissueRegeneration. IntechOpen,11Aug.2011.Web.22Mar.2014. "TheNewEnglandJournalofMedicine."EmbryoEthics.NEJM,4July2004.Web.09Mar.2014. Formos,J."ResultFilters."NationalCenterforBiotechnologyInformation.U.S.NationalLibraryof Medicine,13Jan.2014.Web.09Mar.2014. Togel,Florian."AdultBoneMarrowderivedStemCellsforOrganRegenerationandRepair."Wiley OnlineLibrary.WileyOnlineLibrary,8Aug.2007.Web.09Mar.2014. Urol,J."ResultFilters."NationalCenterforBiotechnologyInformation.U.S.NationalLibraryof Medicine,13Aug.2013.Web.22Mar.2014.