A stem cell is a cell that can duplicate into many more specialized cells. The stem cells are used to repair cornea and other parts of the human body. Stem cells have a rich supply of growth factors. Stem cells could be used as a repair system. During research at the University of Sheffield, engineers used special techniques to create a disk, loaded with stem cells, to place over the cornea. Researchers performed a treatment on a man whom suffered from a heart attack. Researchers used stem cells to help regain the lost parts of his heart. Scientists can now make dynamic changes to stem cells to create them to begin the early stages of tissue repair. Scientists are working on producing gels made from clay inserted with stem cells. …show more content…
At the University of Sheffield, engineers have advanced in a unique technique for transporting stem cell therapy to help the natural repair of eyes damaged by accident or disease. In research, the team of engineers from the University of Sheffield presented a technique by creating membranes that duplicate the structure of the eye to help with the implant of stem cells to treat the damaged corneal. Using special techniques such as microstereolithography and electrospinning, the engineers created a disk with stem cells. The disk is then fitted over the cornea. On the outer edge of the disk is a ring that contains niches or pockets, similar to the niches or pockets found a humans healthy cornea. In the niches or pockets, stem cells that were taken from the patient 's healthy eye are implanted. This method is very effective due to the fact that the material across the center of the disk is thinner allowing it to biodegrade more quickly, allowing the stem cells to multiply across the surface of the eye to repair the cornea. The engineers expect the treatment to be more successful and cheaper than current methods (Optician). Trials of stem cell therapy have been put to the test in the last couple years, such as in Miami, Florida when Edgar Irastorza’s heart stopped beating. Edgar Irastorza was 31 when his pulse flatlined. Edgar had gained weight following his wife 's third pregnancy. Edgar had been working out and …show more content…
Researchers from the University of Southampton propose that gels made from clay may administer the right environment that would stimulate stem cells to regenerate lost tissue such as cornea, bone, skin, heart, spinal cord, liver and pancreas. Clay particles attract molecules to bind together. Scientists propose that will be able to use the clays encouragement to get stem cells to grow new tissue. Researchers first approach is to regenerate bone lost to cancer or hip replacement failure. If researchers are successful, then stem cells can be brought to a whole other level. Stem cells could be applied to burn victims or to people suffering from diabetes or parkinson 's disease. Clay particles are what could be needed to stimulate the process at a particular point of injury. There are two major challenges for the purpose of basic stem based therapies. The first major challenge is being able to hold the stem cells at the right location. Researchers propose that clay particles gelled in water can injected into the body and held at the exact site of injury eliminating the need for surgery. Clay particles also interact with polymers which are used in scaffolds, which stem cells grow on. Researchers hope this will improve the scaffold’s strength to preserve the support at the site of injury until regeneration is done. The ability of clay to overcome these is huge(Life Science Weekly). Also
The cells unique nature has scientists intrigued to do research with the focus of finding a way that these cells can be used to replace patients’ injured or diseased tissues. Advancement is made to all the three types of stem cells namely embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells in addition to induced pluripotent cells. Embryonic cells are the building blocks of an embryo that is developing, and can develop into almost all body cell types. Somatic cells are found in the body tissues. They renew and regenerate in healthy bodies. The third type which is induced pluripotent is genetically modified embryo cells from skin cells.2 Research on these cells are geared towards saving humanity; a noble course.
The wide range of prospective uses for stem cells could greatly improve the health and wellbeing of many people. In stem cell treatments, undifferentiated cells are programmed to form specific cells, which can then be transplanted to the afflicted area. Stems cells can possibly treat afflictions including “Alzheimer’s diseases, spinal cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis” (“Stem Cell Basics”). Another important use is in drug testing. Drugs can be tested on stem cells that develop into the target tissue before using it on human test subjects, which improves safety. Finally, transplantation of organs created from stem cells could eliminate the need for human...
Due to the potential therapeutic uses and the potential profit from stem cells, there has been an increased interest in stem cell research. While some progress has been made, we do not know nearly enough about how stem cells work to use them for the treatment of human diseases. However, there are researchers that claim that they have developed the technology to apply stem cells to the treatment of aging and diseases. Websites such as www.youngeryounger.com and www.medra.com state that they have created a miraculous medical cure, known as cellular therapy, which can treat just about any problem.
Stem cells are valuable due to the fact that they are ? non-designated,? (have no specifically assigned task in the body, i.e. liver cells, brain cells, skin cells, etc.) and they also have the ability to divide indefinitely. Thus, theoretically stem cells could replace any damaged or lost specifically designated cells within the body.
Because stem cells are essentially a blank slate, scientists are theoretically capable of growing any human tissue cell. There is enormous medical potential in this. Stem cell research is the next step in advancing the medical field. It is comparable to the discovery of penicillin or the inoculation for smallpox.
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...
The human body endures a great deal of wear and injury during its lifetime. It is for this reason that the body has several tissues that are capable of regeneration. Bone is one of those tissues that receives extensive use so it is necessary that it is strong in order to carry out its functions; however, it will occasionally face injury. Although our bones are capable of regeneration, a new method would help the elderly and others that have a more difficult time healing after injury. I viewed a “TED Talk” lecture, which discussed a new way of regenerating bone with the help of our own bodies. Molly Stevens, the head of a biomaterials lab, presented “A New Way to Grow Bone” where she discussed a new technique called “in vivo bioreactor”. She also answered why this new procedure is beneficial. Researchers like Stevens are constantly trying to find innovative new techniques and they do this by asking questions. The question that Stevens presented in the video was an intriguing one: “Can we recreate the regeneration of bone on demand and transplant it?”.
Special cells that are taken from human embryos, called embryonic stem cells (ES cells), actually possess the power to save your life. These cells can serve many medical purposes and have the ability to benefit people in infinite ways.
Have you ever seen a movie or read a book where they can tell what your child will look like or if they have a disease or birth defect. Or have you ever wondered how the world would be shaped if we could have clones or even erase genetic diseases. All of these things are theoretically possible with stem cell research. If we are able to reach this point what would we have to sacrifice in the process. To understand humanity would we have to sacrifice the values that truly make us human? What would the fail rate be if we are able to genetically enhance the human body?
Our own immune system such as macrophages help in restoring the damage in the heart for example, damage caused by myocardial infarction. Macrophages responsibilities are to clear the infarcted area and activate other cells, such as fibroblasts, endothelial cells and progenitor cells to help the healing process of the blood vessels (Mercola et al. 2011). Tissue regenerative in today’s world uses the stem cell technology to repair, replace and regenerate the cells of the injured organ or tissues. It is a combination of engineering principles and life sciences in order to create something that able to proliferate and regenerate as well as sustaining and improving its functions. This purpose can be achieved by applying functional cells, scaffolds supplementary, stimulate the growth and signal molecules to needed areas. The scaffold delivers as physical support for the cells as well as to function as organizer guiding the cell growth and differentiation (Leor et al. 2005).
The cloning of any species is wrong because it is experimental and very unpredictable. Cloning is a way to make exact copies of an animal or person. This can be done several ways. All of these ways require scientists to do the research, time for the procedures, and patience for the embryos to grow. This whole process is expensive and not without loss of life. Cloning can be the separating of cells from one embryo to grow as another embryo, creating a twin with the exact same DNA. Cloning can also be removing the nucleus and DNA from an egg and transferring it into a somatic cell (any other cell in the body that is not a sperm or egg). This will make the cell act like a fertilized egg or embryo. These embryos need to be put into surrogate mothers so that they can grow into living things. I do not believe in this process because I think it is disrupting the balance of nature.
“Miraculous Recovery: Rat Regenerates Heart”, was the compelling article title in my Human Anatomy class that introduced me to tissue engineering. The notion of using stem cells to recreate an entire organ, of using the decellularized extracellular matrix of a rat to reanimate a heart, was simply astounding. I read more about this field and found out how it is thanks to tissue regeneration that man regrew a part of his finger after a toy helicopter accident, a boy received
Many patients in hospitals are waiting for transplants and many of them are dying because they are not receiving the needed organs. To solve this problem, scientists have been using embryonic stem cells to produce organs or tissues to repair or replace damaged ones (Human Cloning). Skin for burn victims, brain cells for the brain damaged, hearts, lungs, livers, and kidneys can all be produced. By combining the technology of stem cell research and human cloning, it will be possible to produce the needed tissues and organs for patients in desperate need of a transplant (Human Cloning). The waiting list for transplants will become a lot shorter and a lot less people will have to suffer and die just because they are in great need of a transplant....
While many people envision the future being a utopia of automation and technological advances other individuals such as Aldous Huxley see a much darker, dystopian environment. The concepts of a utopia and dystopia are often confused. A utopia consists of perfection while a dystopia is often described as unpleasant. Dystopian ideas are often pleasant in concept however in practice these ideas may become disastrous. Many predictions have been made about society’s distant dystopian future, however many chilling examples have came true.
Researchers in this field are seek to know how stem cells can be used to develop into specialized cells or tissue, which aims restore lost function in damaged organs or even grow new fully functioning organs for transplant.