There are many questions regarding stem cell research. What are they? Why are they important? Where do you get them? How can they be used? What ethical issues have they brought up among us? Stem cell research is a very controversial, yet promising study.
“Stem cells are like little kids who, when they grow up, can enter a variety of professions. A child might become a fireman, a doctor, or a plumber, depending on the influences in their life- or environment. In the same way, these stem cells can become many tissues by making certain changes in their environment” (Parks 8).
A stem cell is an undifferentiated cell that is able to regenerate itself into another type of cell. Stem cell research began with the discovery of cells in 1665, when Robert Hooke recognized cells as the basic unit of life. In 1827, Karl Ernst von Baer says that mammalian life begins with the insemination of an egg. Later, in 1838, Matthias Jakob Schleiden states that the basic structure of all plants is the cell. The following year, in 1839, Theodor Schwann declares that cells are also the basic structural unit of all animals, constituting, together with Schleiden’s discovery, the beginning of cell theories. In 1855, Rudolf Virchow states an essential law of cell behavior: “all cells come from existing cells”. Years later, S. L. Schenk tries to fertilize a human egg outside the human body, in 1878. His attempt fails, but becomes the first recorded work to accomplish ex utero fertilization. In 1902, Gottlieb Haberlandt suggests the idea of totipotency for plant cells (every cell in a mature plant has the ability to change back to embryonic form that can grow and differentiate into every cell the plant is made of). In 1909, Alexander A. Maximow predicts the exi...
... middle of paper ...
...ss called commitment. Stem cells that are partway down one of these branches are called adult stem cells because they are destined to become specific types of tissue in the adult and are thought to have lost the full potential of embryonic stem cells (Parks 10).
Works Cited
Haerens, Margaret. Embryonic and Adult Stem Cells. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2009.
Herold, Eve. Stem Cell Wars: Inside Stories from the Frontlines. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
Newton, David E. Stem Cell Research. New York, NY: Facts On File, 2007. Print.
Panno, Joseph. Stem Cell Research: Medical Applications and Ethical Controversy. New York, NY: Facts On File, 2005. Print.
Parks, Peggy J. Stem Cells. San Diego, CA: Reference Point, 2009. Print.
Parks, Scott, Christopher Thomas. Stem Cell Now: From the Experiment That Shook the World to the New Politics of Life. New York: Pi, 2006.
" An Overview of Stem Cell Research | The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity."
Stem cells have the ability to transform into any kind of cell. These cells can divide and also replenish other cells in the body, such as muscle cells, brain cells, red blood cells, or they may just simply remain as stem cells. Stem cells are able to replicate even after long periods of dormancy. They naturally repair damaged tissues and can be experimentally induced to work with particular tissues and organs (NIH, 2013).
This report does a fairly comprehensive job on educating the public to the definition of stem cells, describing them as “a diverse group of remarkable multipotent cells that are relatively undifferentiated and unspecialized cells of the body.” Stem cells have the capacity for unlimited self-renewal and the possibility to produce differentiated descendant cell types. The main in...
Stem cells are mother cells that have potential to develop into a new different cell in the body. It can self-renew or multiply while developing into other types of cells, for example they can become cells of the blood, heart, bones, skin, muscles and brain. Stem cells were discovered in human cord blood in 1978, and in 1998, Thompson, from the University of Wisconsin, isolated cells from the inner cell mass of early embryos (early stage of an animal or person before it is born) and developed t...
Scott, Christopher Thomas. Stem Cell Now: From the Experiment That Shook the World to the
Embryonic stem cell research is the medical study of cells taken from embryos before they are able to implant into a uterus. This procedure – harvesting the cells – ultimately destroys the embryo rendering it non-viable and unable to sustain life. Adult stem cell research is simply the study of stem cells harvested from adults and used in many areas of medicine. Numerous groups are opposed this sort of research because they feel it infringes on the right to life, while others do not believe that an embryo that has spent five days in a petri dish should be considered a human. In the 1800’s the first discovery of stem cells occurred. This discovery proved that some cells could spawn other cells. However, it was not until the early 1900’s that research demonstrated stem cells could generate blood cells. This was very promising in the medical community at that time since so many diseases ran rampant and were incurable. During the infancy of stem cell research, both animal and human stem cells were used. Now, for medic...
Stem cell research is on the forefront of regenerative medicine and biological science. It is the study of certain cells in the inner mass of the embryo that are produced a few days after the embryo forms during the blastocyst stage. They are the most primitive of all human cells. They are undifferentiated cells, which mean the cells are not designated to be any special type of cell, such as a nerve, muscle, or skin cell. The cell's specialization is later influenced by the molecules, which are usually proteins that surround the cell (Marshak 220-223). The proteins are typically produced by the mother, but under certain laboratory conditions, distinctive proteins can be introduced and a definite, mature cell type is produced. The cells that are produced could be implanted into a subject to replace worn out cells, or cells that have been destroyed due to disease or injury.
Dr. Farouk Mahmoud; Conversations: ethics, science, stem cells. EuroStemCell. Youtube, 2013. Youtube. Web. 9 Dec 2013.
“Stem Cell Research: Guide to Critical Analysis.” Points Of View: Stem Cell Research [serial online]. January 2013;:4. Available from: Points of View Reference Center, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 26, 2013.
A stem cell is a special type of ‘starter’ cell that can grow into any kind of adult tissue. It is basically a ‘blank’ cell that can adapt and become a differentiate cell type like a nerve cell, a bone cell, or a skin cell. They are a foundation for every cell, tissue and organ in your body.
Within the past few years, scientist have made several breakthroughs with human stem cells. These breakthroughs have catapulted the issue of stem cell research into the middle of a national debate. Most people have no problem with the research itself, however the source of the stem cells (adult or human embryos) used in research is the primary cause of the debate. Some people feel that destroying an embryo is comparable to murder, even if the research it promotes may help people with serious illnesses. Other believe that an embryo is not a person and therefore research on an embryo is the same as research on any other group of cells.
Research on stem cells is advancing knowledge about how an organism develops from a single cell and how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult organisms. This promising area of science is also leading scientists to investigate the possibility of cell-based therapies to treat disease, which is often referred to as regenerative or reparative medicine. There is genuine scientific excitement over the concept of using the body's own cellular building blocks to regenerate damaged or ageing organs. Stem cells are one of the most fascinating areas of biology today. But like ...
One of the facts that make stem cells so important and such a great asset to healthcare research is that stem cells are not differentiated. Within our bodies, the cells that make up our bodies are programmed to become all of the specific structures in our body such as blood cells or muscle cells. Stem cells do not have this intrinsic programming. They can therefore become any type of cell. When a sperm and egg combine to create a zygote, the zygote rapidly divides which will eventually develop into an embryo and, of course, eventually a human being. The cells that the zygote divides into are the first of these stem cells and develop into the cells that make up the body. When a baby is born, these excess stem cells are in the amniotic fluid and umbilical cord of the baby. However, stem cells still exist within adults, but are usually dormant for the rest of a person’s life. Stem cells remain spread around the tissues, muscles, bones, and blood. Although there is a lot that scientists do not know about stem cells, these stem cells can be activated by various factors like disease and can serve to repl...
“Stem Cells: The Future of Medicine.” Medschool.umaryland.edu. University of Maryland School of Medicine Web 14 Nov 2013
The stem cell research controversy is one of the major headlines in bioscience and has been discussed and debated numerous times throughout the last decade or so.