Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have the capacity to have a widespread impact on biomedical research and therapeutic approaches to an array of diseases and disorders. These stem cells are of extreme potency because they can self-renew in culture while maintaining the capability to become virtually any cell type (Zhu and Huangfu, 2013). While there are many ethical concerns regarding embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells arise from adult somatic cells that can be reprogrammed to enter the pluripotent state and have similar characteristics of embryonic stem cells such as having normal karyotypes, expression of telomerase activity, cell surface markers and genes, as well as mature and differentiate into advanced derivatives of the primary germ layers (Yu et al., 2007). These features are of great utility because they give insight to developmental biology and are extremely useful in the emerging field of regenerative medicine. This paper discusses the methods of which human somatic cells are reprogrammed allowing the generation of disease-specific and patient-specific pluripotent cell lines that can provide immense promise in regenerative medicine.
Embryonic Stem Cells
Embryonic stem cells (ESC) are cells that have the ability to grow indefinitely, maintain pluripotency and differentiate into all three germ layers. In 1981, two groups first derived them from the inner cell mass of mouse blastocyst and showed that ESCs arise from totipotent cells of the mammalian embryo, have normal karyotypes and are able to have unlimited and undifferentiated proliferation in vivo (Evans and Kaufman, 1981; Martin 1981). A decade later, Thomson et al. derived the first human embryonic stem cell lines (hESC) from cultured human b...
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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.
Stem cells have been under intense research because of their remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types within the body. Under certain experimental conditions, they can be induced to become tissue specific cells with special functions. When the human stem cell was first discovered, researchers primarily utilized embryonic stem cells (ESCs), undifferentiated cells derived from a 5-day preimplantation embryo known to develop into cells and tissues of the three primary germ layers (Rippon and Bishop 2004). Because the extractions of human ESCs result in the destruction of an embryo, stem cell research has been highly controversial. However, recent advances have allowed the creation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), somatic (adult) cells that have been “reprogrammed” into a pluripotent state. (Takahashi et al. 2007). In this paper, I propose that human induced pluripotent stem cells be more strongly considered as a model for studying human development. Strengths and weaknesses of using the hiPSCs as a model, as well as the methods of inducing pluripotency will be discussed and reviewed.
Late one night a woman is driving home on the freeway, she’s hit head on by a drunk driver and killed. The man is charged with two accounts of murder; the woman, and her four-week-old embryo inside her. By law, everyone human being is guaranteed rights of life; born or unborn they are equal. The same law should be enforced concerning human embryonic stem cell research. Dr. James A. Thomson discovered stem cells in 1998 and they’ve intrigued scientist ever since. The stem cells themselves are derived from a three to four day old cluster of cells called a blastocyst and they are so coveted because they are pluripotent, meaning they can differentiate into any type of cell in the human body. Although embryonic stem cells show amazing potential to cure various disease such as cancer, congestive heart failure, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, muscular dystrophies, and more. The methods by which they are obtained is controversial. Research on embryonic stem cells is unethical, unnecessary, and purely homicide.
Stem cells are pluripotent cells of the body which are “undifferentiated.” This means that stem cells can ultimately give rise to any type of body tissue. Thus stem cells have the potential to cure a vast number of diseases and physical ailments including Parkinson’s, diabetes, spinal cord injury, and heart disease. Consequently, stem cell research and the development of associated medical applications are of great interest to the scientific and medical community. The area of stem cell research involving human embryonic stem cells is of particular interest in that embryonic stem cells are derived from week-old blastocysts developed from in vitro fertilized eggs. As opposed to adult stem cells, which must undergo a complicated process of de-differen...
Since adult stem cells cannot do much for research or clinical use, researching ways that embryonic stem cells can be used has become a necessity. Adult stem cells can produce only a limited number of cell types, while embryonic cells have an unlimited capacity for self-renewal and can be used to replace damag...
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...
There is much difficulty in the research of adult stem cells, as they are hard to grow and differentiate under lab conditions, and there is still research being conducted with the induced pluripotent stem cells on the extent of their ability to differentiate, and whether they are still be...
There are many different types of stem cells that are being looked at for research. These include embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells, and induced pluripotent cells. Embryonic stem cells are cells that have the potential to produce many different cells in the body. They are cells that are tak...
Those who favour stem cell research are optimistic about the continued developments in stem cell research will open doors to many breakthrough discoveries in biomedical science. The scientific and ethical questions arise as rapidly as the reaching of milestones in stem cell research. There are two main types of stem cells, namely embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells in our body. But they have restricted-range of cells that they can further differentiate. On the contrary, embryonic stem cells have the ability to differentiate into nearly two hundred cell types in the human body, called pluripotency. The process of harvesting embryonic stem cells involves destruction of embryos (Mooney, 2009).
Han, J. H., and Sidhu, K. S. (2011). Embryonic stem cell extracts: use in differentiation and reprogramming. Regenerative Medicine. 6(2), 215.
Named the Breakthrough of the year for 1999, human embryonic stem cell research may indeed have the potential to benefit many people who suffer from serious debilitating conditions. Because embryonic stem cells can develop into many different types...
Although the actual procedure of retrieving stem cells from embryos is highly complicated and scientific, the ideology is quite simple. The study of stem cells that were taken from human embryos has been around since the early nineties, but until the summer of 1998, a majority of the country had been none the wiser. The country’s “non-knowledge” of this very promising medical technology may have been a blessing in disguise. With the story rapidly hitting newsstands and telecasts around the country, pro and anti-research rallies were the top headlines. Literally defined, embryonic stem cells are “undifferentiated, or unspecified cells that are unlike any other adult cell”(Stem Cells: A primer). They are unique because they are totipotent, or have the ability to form into almost any of the 220 cell types in the human body. Embryonic stem cells are taken from the blastocyst, the name given to the stage of the embryo when it is four to six days old. The blastocyst consists of two cell masses; the first is an outer “wall” of cells that are already specified and will grow to become placental tissue and membrane. The inner mass, however, is a large group of unspecified stem cells that can be manipulated and eventually used for the treatment of diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Diabetes. Not only do stem cells show promise for cures to these diseases, but also they also offer hope for the sufferers and ...
Because the best system for the study of disease is humans, a new technology called induced-pluripotent stem cells has been discovered, offering the opportunity to study disease relevant human tissue that is specific to an individual.
“The richest source of embryonic stem cells is tissue formed during the first five days after the egg has started to divide. At this stage of development, called the blastocyst, the embryo consists of a cluster of about 100 cells that can become any cell type. Stem cells are harvested from cloned embryos at this stage of development, resulting in the destruction of the embryo while it is still in the test tube. Researchers hope to use embryonic stem cells, which have the unique ability to generate virtually all types of cells in an organism, to grow healthy tissues in the laboratory that can be used to replace injured or diseased tissues. In addition, it may be possible to learn more about the molecular causes of disease by studying embryonic stem cell lines from cloned embryos derived from the cells of animals or humans with different diseases. Finally, differentiated tissues derived from embryonic stem cells are excellent tools to test new therapeutic drugs.” Although the exploration of these new cells can be beneficial for the future human generation, some critics this practice due to the fact that it is unethical and can turn into cancer cells. Stem cells have the capability to accumulate mutation, thus leaving a risk for diseases such as
Park, I, Arora, N, Huo, H, Maherali, N, Ahfeldt, T, Shimamura, A, Lensch, M, Cowan, C, Hochedlinger, K, & Daley, G, 2008. Disease-Specific Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. Cell, 134, 877-886.