Alternatives to Human-embryo Stem-cell Research
This essay counters the media and many scientists' claims that there are no viable alternatives to human-embryo stem-cell research (ESCR).
The media restate the claim (made repeatedly in NIH documents) that adult stem cells do not have the same potential as embryonic stem cells, which in theory can form any tissue. But studies done with adult stem cells (studies which mirror the ones done with embryonic stem cells) show that adult stem cells do have the capacity to form essentially any tissue.
The most misleading term which continues to be used is "pluripotent." Literally, this means able to form most (but not all) tissues. This term continues to be used
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The best sources are from our own organs termed "adult stem cells" or "tissue stem cells." Another excellent source is cord blood; the small amount of blood left in an umbilical cord after it is detached from a newborn is rich in stem cells. In the last two years, we've gone from thinking that we had very few stem cells in our bodies, to recognizing that many (perhaps most) organs maintain a reservoir of these cells.
We've known for some time that bone-marrow stem cells can make more blood, but now we know that these adult stem cells can also make bone, muscle, cartilage, heart tissue, liver, and even brain. Interestingly enough, we now know that our brain contains stem cells which can be stimulated to make more neurons, or to take up different job descriptions as muscle or blood. Bone marrow and cord blood are already successfully being used clinically, while clinical use of embryonic stem cells is years away. Current clinical applications of adult stem cells include treatments for cancer, arthritis, lupus, and making new corneas, to name a few.
One distinct advantage of using our own adult stem cells is that there will be no transplant rejection, since it is our own tissue. Use of human embryonic stem cells will require lifelong use of drugs to prevent rejection of the tissue. Or, the patient will have to be
Once there is an understanding of how embryonic cells are taken from the body, it can be explained why they should be used contrary to the beliefs some people have. First, Embryonic cells can cure diseases. For example, if someone is paralyzed, doctors can take an embryonic cell and use this to cure the patient (nih.gov). A man named Rusty Leech, from Michigan, was able to regain sensation in his body, when he previously could not because of a car accident. Two months of physical therapy and embryonic stem cell injections enabled him to regain feeling below his waist again. He has regained limited muscle use to help him go to the bathroom and move his legs a little on his own. “The results were unbelievable, to feel the sensations in my body that weren’t
We know that many have made expansive claims for the benefits of human embryo research. However, all such claims are conjectural. Embryonic stem cell research has not helped a single human patient or demonstrated any therapeutic benefit. At the same time, adult stem cells have helped hundreds of thousands of patients and new
Through change and uttermost struggle, the people who care about a subject always seem to push through for what they believe in. For the sake of Embryonic Stem Cell research, the advocates tried their best to show the advancements stem cells may withhold, and for the people who disagree with the research, always seemed to put a new light on the subject, simply humanizing the research. Although the destruction of a human embryo is not something many people would view as ethical, it is something that could hold much promise for those who suffer from terminal illnesses (Sherley). When the miracle of assisting those who could not reproduce children through In Vitro Fertilization transpired the world of stem cell research was acquired (Tauer 924).
First of all an understanding of what a stem cell is, where it comes from, and the significance of it's medical potential is essential. Stem cells are the "master cells" that form the human body or whatever other animal it is from. Stem cells can be extracted from adult tissues, bone marrow, umbilical cord blood ( ), and embryos in the blastocyst stage. Although scientists have found ways to manipulate the stem cells from adult sources into other types of cells, they claim that they are less capable of deriving the desired tissue and are not "biologically equivalent" ( ) to stem cells extracted from embryos.
Abortion, gay marriage, and illegal immigration are all hot button topics currently being faced by Americans. As ardently as each side defends their stance on a controversial issue, an opposing side fights with equal diligence for the beliefs they feel should be valued by our nation. Perhaps nowhere is this battle more heated than in the fight over stem cell research. While supporters of this new field of science tout it’s potential to cure everything from blindness to paralysis, those against stem cell science liken the procedures used by scientists to murder. It is my intention to bring to light the positive benefits of stem cell research as well as counter the claims used by many Pro-life groups who believe the scientists driving this
Adult stem cells have already proven to be successful in treating diseases and have helped hundreds of thousands of patients, and new clinical uses expand almost weekly. Adult stem cells can be obtained from cord blood, fat, neural tissue, muscle, bone marrow, placental and skin cells. Adult stem cells are increasingly being shown to have a similar and perhaps an identical capacity to become cells of other types. There is a possibility that adult stem cells may function more efficiently and more safely than embryonic cells. Treena Arinzeh, a young professor who last year won a Presidential Award, the nation's highest scientific honor, is bringing the promise of stem cell research one step closer to reality. Adult stem cells also have a unique trait that lends them their magic: Under the right conditions, or given the proper signals, they have the ability to turn into different cell types. Arinzeh is doing exactly that: developing signals, in the form of biomaterials, that will help adult stem cells turn into cells that, if injected into a diseased area of the human body, could regenerate damaged tissue. Her research has also led to two major stem-cell discoveries: One showing that stem cells, when mixed with biomaterials known as scaffolds, can help regenerate bone growth; and another proving that stem cells taken from one person can be successfully implanted into another. A list of conditions for which stem-cell treatment holds promise grows almost daily: It now
What if there was a way to cure previously in-curable diseases with the help of something in the very first stages of human life, but thousands upon thousands of lives had to be taken to perfect the use of this material? That is exactly what is happening with embryonic stem cells around the world. Pro-life activists, who originally organized to stop the abortions of unborn fetuses, were most angered with the process of actually destroying an embryo solely for research purposes. However, scientists, such as Dr. Andrew Yeager of the University of Pittsburgh, argue that embryonic stem cells are the future of medicine. “This is really where, I think, so much of biomedicine is going to be going in the twenty
One of the pros of stem cell research Adult stem cells can be reprogrammed and are less likely to be rejected when used in transplants.Embryonic stem cells can grow for at least a year in some cases, especially when established protocols are used These cells can also be used to generate more cell types like Induced pluripotent stem cells help avoid issues of histocompatibility in transplants, and research on these cells will help reprogram diseased or damaged tissues
Adult: An adult stem cell is a cell that is not yet specialised and is found among differentiated cells in organs or tissue. An adult stem cell can produce all of the major cell types found in tissue or organs. The main role of this cell is to preserve and mend the tissue in which they are
Contrarily, supporters of embryonic stem cell research argue that such research should be pursued because the resultant treatments could have significant medical potential. In addition, leftover embryos could be given with permission and
Stem cells are a type of cells that are responsible for the renewal and the regeneration of damaged and ageing tissues. Stem cells can be divided into two categories: Embryonic Stem cells and Adult stem cells also known as Somatic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells can be retrieve from the foetus, amniotic fluid, the placenta, and the umbilical cord blood and in the early embryo. Adult stem cells can be retrieved from many other parts of the body once a child has been born and through to adulthood. Those parts of the body are skin, hair follicles, bone marrow and blood, brain and spinal cord, the lining of the nose, gut, lung, joint fluid, muscle, fat, menstrual blood and etc. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, which mean they can develop into any of the 220 different body cells while adult stem cells only be able to develop into muscle, bone marrow and brain cells.
Embryonic stem cells that have multiplied in a cell culture for six months without differentiating, are pluripotent, and appear genetically similar to normal cells are termed as embryonic stem cells. During tests, scientists test the stem cells to see if they exhibit the fundamental properties that make them embryonic stem cells to differentiate them from other cells. An adult stem cell is an “undiffertiated” cell found among differentiated cells in an organ or tissue that can renew itself, and can differentiate to produce specialized cell types of the tissue or organ. Also, unlike embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells origins in mature tissues or organs are a mystery. One population of stem cells called hematopoietic cells is responsible for all the blood cells in the body. Similarly stromal cells are responsible for the generations of bone, cartilage, fat and connective tissues such as tendons.
Most people are against Embryonic Stem Cell research mainly because they consider it unethical to use aborted fetuses for research. The two main issues concerning the research are the ethics (Cons) and the benefits (Pros). In any scientific case, ethics must always be considered. But the use of fetuses is something that is of the utmost importance. The costs are generally measured based off of people’s feelings, morals, and knowledge about the subject up for debate. The use of aborted fetuses for stem cell research may have many positive outcomes that can come of it, but many negative outcomes as well; If using aborted fetuses for research can, in the near future, save lives, then it is a research that should be supported, even though some
Research is being conducted on both embryonic and adult stem cells due to their ability to divide indefinitely. By keeping a close eye on stem cells as they mature into specialized cells, doctors and
The way that stem cells work, which includes both embryonic and non-embryonic, is interesting in a lot of assets. Like all cells, stem cells need to perform cell division in order for them to probably function and do their jobs, so they need to go through things such as telekinesis mitosis and even meiosis. Embryonic stem cells start off in the blastocyst, or cell embryo that contains approximately 150 cells (MCS, 2013) MCS: Mayo Clinic Staff. After this occurs, the embryonic stems cells will then assemble healthy cells in order to block out or even discontinue old sick ones (MCS, 2013). Adult stem cells are a tad different then embryonic stem cells are as far as there development goes. In the adult stems cell’s development process, Rather than starting out as an egg or fetus, it is already found in your body in places like tissue, bone marrow etcetera, which means that you don’t have to create it like the embryonic stem, however, because of this they don’t have as much ability to differentiate (NIH, 2016). Embryonic stem cells are used, and researched to a much larger extent then adult stem cells due to the fact that adult stem cells are