Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome

The medications used to stimulate your ovaries may cause side effects. These side
effects can range from mild to severe. Excessive stimulation of the ovaries is called
ovarian hyperstimulation. This may require a hospital stay. Be aware of body
changes and contact your program nurse if you have any questions or concerns.
She will contact the physician if necessary. You will usually have symptoms of mild
hyperstimulation during your treatment cycle. However, moderate and severe
symptoms are less common and usually occur at lease several days after embryo
transfer.

Human cloning
Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. The term is generally
used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human cells and tissue. It
does not refer to the natural conception and delivery of identical twins. The possibility of human
cloning has raised controversies. These ethical concerns have prompted several nations to
pass laws regarding human cloning and its legality.
Two commonly discussed types of theoretical human cloning are: therapeutic
cloning and reproductive cloning. Therapeutic cloning would involve cloning cells from a human
for use in medicine and transplants, and is an active area of research, but is not in medical
practice anywhere in the world, as of January 2016. Two common methods of therapeutic
cloning that are being researched are somatic-cell nuclear transfer and, more recently, pluripotent
stem cell induction. Reproductive cloning would involve making an entire cloned human, instead
of just specific cells or tissues.
Methods
In somatic cell nuclear transfer ("SCNT"), the nucleus of a somatic cell is taken from a donor
and transplanted into a host egg cell, which had its own genetic material removed previously,
making it an enucleated egg. After the donor somatic cell genetic material is transferred into the
host oocyte with a micropipette, the somatic cell genetic material is fused with the egg using an
electric current. Once the two cells have fused, the new cell can be permitted to grow in
a surrogate or artificially. This is the process that was used to successfully clone Dolly the sheep
(see section on History in this article).

induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)

Overview of iPS cells

Induced pluripotent stem cell
Creating
induced pluripotent stem
cells ("iPSCs")
is
a
long
and
inefficient
process. Pluripotencyrefers to a stem cell that has the potential to differentiate into any of the
three germ
layers:endoderm (interior
stomach
lining,
gastrointestinal
tract,
the
lungs), mesoderm (muscle, bone, blood, urogenital), or ectoderm (epidermal tissues and nervous
system). A specific set of genes, often called "reprogramming factors", are introduced into a
specific adult cell type. These factors send signals in the mature cell that cause the cell to become
a pluripotent stem cell. This process is highly studied and new techniques are being discovered
frequently on how to better this induction process.
Depending on the method used, reprogramming of adult cells into iPSCs for implantation could
have severe limitations in humans. If avirus is used as a reprogramming factor for the cell,
cancer-causing genes called oncogenes may be activated. These cells would appear as rapidly
dividing cancer cells that do not respond to the body's natural cell signaling process. However, in
2008 scientists discovered a technique that could remove the presence of these oncogenes after
pluripotency induction, thereby increasing the potential use of iPSC in humans.

comparing SCNT to Reprogramming

Both the processes of SCNT and iPSCs have benefits and deficiencies. Historically,
reprogramming methods were better studied than SCNT derived embryonic stem cells (ESCs).
However, more recent studies have put more emphasis on developing new procedures for SCNTESCs. The major advantage of SCNT over iPSCs at this time is the speed with which cells can be
produced. iPSCs derivation takes several months while SCNT would take a much shorter time,
which could be important for medical applications. New studies are working to improve the

process of iPSC in terms of both speed and efficiency with the discovery of new reprogramming
factors in oocytes.[citation needed] Another advantage SCNT could have over iPSCs is its
potential to treat mitochondrial disease, as it utilizes a donor oocyte.[No other advantages are
known at this time in using stem cells derived from one method over stem cells derived from the
other.

Uses, actual and potential

Work on cloning techniques has advanced our basic understanding of developmental biology in
humans. Observing human pluripotent stem cells grown in culture provides great insight into
human embryo development, which otherwise cannot be seen. Scientists are now able to better
define steps of early human development. Studying signal transduction along with genetic
manipulation within the early human embryo has the potential to provide answers to many
developmental diseases and defects. Many human-specific signaling pathways have been
discovered by studying human embryonic stem cells. Studying developmental pathways in
humans has given developmental biologists more evidence toward the hypothesis that
developmental pathways are conserved throughout species.

iPSCs and cells created by SCNT are useful for research into the causes of disease, and as model
systems used in drug discovery.

Cells produced with SCNT, or iPSCs could eventually be used in stem cell therapy,or to create
organs to be used in transplantation, known as regenerative medicine. Stem cell therapy is the
use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition. Bone marrow transplantation is a
widely used form of stem cell therapy. No other forms of stem cell therapy are in clinical use at
this time. Research is underway to potentially use stem cell therapy to treat heart disease,
diabetes, and spinal cord injuries.Regenerative medicine is not in clinical practice, but is heavily
researched for its potential uses. This type of medicine would allow for autologous
transplantation, thus removing the risk of organ transplant rejection by the recipient.For instance,
a person with liver disease could potentially have a new liver grown using their same genetic
material and transplanted to remove the damaged liver. In current research, human pluripotent
stem cells have been promised as a reliable source for generating human neurons, showing the
potential for regenerative medicine in brain and neural injuries.

Ethical implications

In bioethics, the ethics of cloning refers to a variety of ethical positions regarding the practice
and possibilities of cloning, especially human cloning. While many of these views are religious in
origin, the questions raised by cloning are faced by secular perspectives as well. Human
therapeutic and reproductive cloning are not commercially used; animals are currently cloned in
laboratories and in livestock production.
Advocates support development of therapeutic cloning in order to generate tissues and whole
organs to treat patients who otherwise cannot obtain transplants,to avoid the need
for immunosuppressive drugs, and to stave off the effects of aging. Advocates for reproductive
cloning believe that parents who cannot otherwise procreate should have access to the
technology.
Opposition to therapeutic cloning mainly centers around the status of embyronic stem cells,
which has connections with the abortion debate.
Some opponents of reproductive cloning have concerns that technology is not yet developed
enough to be safe - for example, the position of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science as of 2014, while others emphasize that reproductive cloning could be prone to
abuse (leading to the generation of humans from whom organs and tissues would be
harvested), and have concerns about how cloned individuals could integrate with families and
with society at large.

Religious groups are divided, with some opposing the technology as usurping God's (in
monotheistic traditions) place and, to the extent embryos are used, destroying a human life;
others support therapeutic cloning's potential life-saving benefits.
Current law
In 2015 it was reported that about 70 countries had banned human cloning.