Stem Cells, Yes or No?

Anisah Nurul F.
16118057
K-22
Summary Respon Essay
Stem Cells, Yes or No?

Stem cells are a type of cell that can develop into many other types of cell. The human
body requires many different types of cell to function, but it does not produce each cell type fully
formed and ready to use. Instead, it produces stem cells that have a wide range of possible
functions. Stem cells may provide the key to regenerative medicine, in which the body heals
itself. In some tissues, stem cells play an essential role in regeneration, as they can divide easily
to replace dead cells. Scientists believe that knowing how stem cells work may lead to possible
treatments for conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. The idea of a miracle cure and
bodies healing themselves holds a particular fascination. Stem cell research brings regenerative
medicine a step closer, but many of the ideas and concepts remain controversial.
Researchers on a small-scale study published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Translational

Research tested this method. The results showed a 40 percent reduction of the size of scarred
heart tissue caused by heart attacks when doctors transplanted stem cells to the damaged area.
However, this small study involved only 11 participants. This makes it difficult to tell whether
the improvement in heart function resulted from the transplantation of stem cells or whether it
was due to something else.
Another investigation, published in Nature Communications in 2016, has suggested that stem
cell therapies could be the basis of personalized diabetes treatment. In mice and laboratory-
grown cultures, researchers successfully produced insulin-secreting cells from stem cells derived
from the skin of people with type 1 diabetes.
Jeffrey R. Millman, assistant professor of medicine and biomedical engineering at Washington

University School of Medicine and first author, says, "In theory, if we could replace the damaged
cells in these individuals with new pancreatic beta cells — whose primary function is to store
and release insulin to control blood glucose — patients with type 1 diabetes wouldn't need
insulin shots anymore."
One way that scientists use stem cells at the moment is in developing and testing new drugs. The
type of stem cells that scientists commonly use for this purpose are called induced pluripotent
stem cells. These are cells that have already undergone differentiation, but which scientists have
genetically "reprogrammed" using viruses, so they can divide and become any cell. In this way,
they act like undifferentiated stem cells. Scientists can grow differentiated cells from these
pluripotent stem cells to resemble, for instance,cancer cells. Creating these cells means that
scientists can use them to test anti-cancer drugs. Researchers are already making a wide variety
of cancer cells using this method. However, because they cannot yet create cells that mimic
cancer cells in a controlled way, it is not always possible to replicate the results precisely.
In recent years, clinics have opened that provide stem cell treatments. However, stem cell
therapies are still mostly theoretical rather than evidence-based. Very few stem cell treatments
have even reached the earliest phase of a clinical trial. Scientists are carrying out most of the
current research in mice or a petri dish.
Historically, the use of stem cells in medical research has been controversial. This is because
when the therapeutic use of stem cells first came to the public's attention in the late 1990s,
scientists were deriving human stem cells from embryos. Many people disagree with using
human embryonic cells for medical research because extracting the stem means destroying the
embryo. This creates complex issues, as people have different beliefs about what constitutes the
start of human life.
For some people, life starts when a baby is born, or when an embryo develops into a fetus.
Others believe that human life begins at conception, so an embryo has the same moral status and
rights as a human adult or child. However, by 2006, scientists had already started using
pluripotent stem cells. Scientists do not derive these stem cells from embryonic stem cells. As a
result, this technique does not have the same ethical concerns. With this and other recent
advances in stem cell technology, attitudes toward stem cell research are slowly beginning to
change.
Stem cells have shown promise in many areas of health, from reducing scarring on the heart to
dental repair. Although much more research is necessary before stem cell therapies can become
part of regular medical practice, the science around stem cells is developing all the time. In
almost every therapy area, doctors hope that stem cell technology will revolutionize therapeutic
norms and introduce at least a new standard of personalized treatment, and maybe even self-
healing bodies.

Stem Cells, Yes or No?

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Stem Cells, Yes or No?

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Stem Cells, Yes or No?

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Anisah Nurul F.

Summary Respon Essay

Stem Cells, Yes or No?

Researchers on a small-scale study published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Translational

Jeffrey R. Millman, assistant professor of medicine and biomedical engineering at Washington

You might also like