STEM CELL RESEARCH

References:

• Dignitatis Personae, nos. 31-32

• The National Institutes of Health
resource for stem cell research :
http://stemcells.nih.gov/
• Human Life International website :
http://www.hli.org/
• http://www.bioedge.org/
WHAT ARE STEM CELLS?
 What are stem cells?
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells
with two basic characteristics:
a) the prolonged capability of
multiplying themselves while
maintaining the undifferentiated
state;
b) the capability of producing
transitory progenitor cells from
which fully differentiated cells
descend, for example, nerve cells,
muscle cells and blood cells.
 What are stem cells?
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells
with two basic characteristics:
a) Prolonged proliferation without
differentiation.

b) the capability of producing

transitory progenitor cells from
which fully differentiated cells
descend, for example, nerve cells,
muscle cells and blood cells.
 What are stem cells?
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells
with two basic characteristics:
a) Prolonged proliferation without
differentiation.

b) Can differentiate into all or many

types of cells in the body.
 What are stem cells?
• Stem cells are important for living
organisms for many reasons. In the
3- to 5-day-old embryo, called a
blastocyst, the inner cells give rise
to the entire body of the organism,
including all of the many
specialized cell types and organs
such as the heart, lung, skin,
sperm, eggs and other tissues.
 What are stem cells?
• In some adult tissues, such as
bone marrow, muscle, and
brain, discrete populations of
adult stem cells generate
replacements for cells that are
lost through normal wear and
tear, injury, or disease.
 STEM CELLS

Degree of Plasticity
[from Brown University Website]
Degrees of Plasticity
 TOTIPOTENT
• They have the potential to give
rise to any and all human cells.
• They can even give rise to an
entire functional organism.
• After four days of embryonic
cell division, the cells begin to
specialize into pluripotent stem
cells
 PLURIPOTENT
• They can give rise to all tissue
types.
• They cannot give rise to an
entire organism.
• They are inner cells of the
blastocyst.
• They cannot be pluripotent
without the outer layer.
 MULTIPOTENT
• They give rise to a limited
range of cells within a tissue
type.
• The offspring of the pluripotent
cells become the progenitors of
such cell lines as blood cells,
skin cells and nerve cells. At
this stage, they are multipotent.
 ADULT STEM CELLS
• multipotent stem cell in adult
humans which replace cells
that have died or lost function.
• It is an undifferentiated cell
present in differentiated tissue.
• It renews itself and can
specialize to yield all cell types
present in the tissue from
which it originated.
 ADULT STEM CELLS
• So far, adult stem cells have
been identified for many
different tissue types such as:
• hematopoetic (blood),
• neural,
• endothelial,
• muscle,
• mesenchymal,
• gastrointestinal, and
• epidermal cells
STEM CELLS

Sources
 Sources of Stem Cells
1. Blastocyst
2. Some adult tissues: bone
marrow, umbilical cord, brain,
mesenchyme from various
organs, etc.
3. Adult cells induced to
become pluripotent again.
 Sources of Stem Cells
1. Embryonic stem cells
2. Some adult tissues: bone
marrow, umbilical cord, brain,
mesenchyme from various
organs, etc.
3. Adult cells induced to
become pluripotent again.
 Sources of Stem Cells
1. Embryonic stem cells
2. Adult stem cells

3. Adult cells induced to

become pluripotent again.
 Sources of Stem Cells
1. Embryonic stem cells
2. Adult stem cells

3. Induced pluripotent stem

cells.
 iPSC
• In 2006, researchers made
another breakthrough by
identifying conditions that
would allow some specialized
adult cells to be
"reprogrammed" genetically to
assume a stem cell-like state.
This new type of stem cell,
called induced pluripotent stem
cells (iPSCs).
iPSC
STEM CELL RESEARCH

Possible Uses of Stem Cells

 History
• In 1981, scientists discovered
ways to derive embryonic stem
cells from early mouse
embryos.
 History
• In 1998, they were able to
derive stem cells from human
embryos and grow the cells in
the laboratory. These cells are
called human embryonic stem
cells.
 History
• The embryos used in these
studies were created for
reproductive purposes through
in vitro fertilization procedures.
When they were no longer
needed for that purpose, they
were donated for research with
the informed consent of the
donor.
 Question
• Because the stem cells were
derived from extra embryos
from in vitro fertilization, what
would be the morality of this
research?
 Sources of Stem Cells
1. Embryonic stem cells
2. Adult stem cells
3. Induced pluripotent stem cells
STEM CELLS

Therapeutic Use
 Stem Cells
• Given their unique regenerative
abilities, stem cells offer new
potentials for treating diseases
such as diabetes, and heart
disease. However, much work
remains to be done in the
laboratory and the clinic to
understand how to use these cells
for cell-based therapies to treat
disease, which is also referred to
as regenerative or reparative
medicine.
THERAPEUTIC USE

Embryonic Stem Cells

 MORAL OBJECT
• The blastula is already in the
process of becoming a human
being.
• Therefore, to destroy the
blastula in order to harvest
stem cells would be the same
as abortion.
THERAPEUTIC USE

Adult Stem Cells

 MORAL OBJECT
• There is no zygote of blastula
involved.
• It is a matter of transferring
tissue.
• Therefore, its morality is the
same as organ transplant.
 THERAPEUTIC USE

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

 MORAL OBJECT
• It uses adult differentiated
cells.
• Therefore, in principle, it is like
an organ transplant.
• However, safety precautions
should be taken.
STEM CELL RESEARCH

Ethical Considerations
 Ethical Evaluation
It is necessary to consider:

1. the methods of obtaining

stem cells
2. the risks connected with their
clinical and experimental use
 Ethical Evaluation
• Obtaining of stem cells from a
living human embryo causes
the death of the embryo and is
consequently gravely illicit.
• Research, in such cases,
irrespective of efficacious
therapeutic results, is not truly
at the service of humanity.
 Ethical Evaluation
• The use of embryonic stem cells or
differentiated cells derived from
embryos – even when these are
provided by other researchers
through the destruction of embryos
or when such cells are
commercially available – presents
serious problems from the
standpoint of cooperation in evil
and scandal.
 Ethical Evaluation
• The use of embryonic stem cells or
differentiated cells derived from
embryos – even when these are
provided by other researchers
through the destruction of embryos
or when such cells are
commercially available – presents
serious problems from the
standpoint of cooperation in evil
and scandal.
 Ethical Evaluation
• The use of embryonic stem cells or
differentiated cells derived from
embryos – even when these are
provided by other researchers
through the destruction of embryos
or when such cells are
commercially available – presents
serious problems from the
standpoint of cooperation in evil
and scandal.
 Ethical Evaluation
• There are no moral objections
to the clinical use of stem cells
that have been obtained licitly.
• Research initiatives involving
the use of adult stem cells,
since they do not present
ethical problems, should be
encouraged and supported.
 Types of Stem Cells
1. Embryonic stem cells
2. Adult stem cells
3. Induced pluripotent stem cells

Which is ones are morally licit for

use?
Can researches use stem cells from a
fetus that has recently died?
Can you use stem cells from an
animal?
SAVE
ME!