Brain Cells

Dheeraj Ayyagari

AP Biology

Summer Assignment

Bibliographical Information: Susan Okie, Stem-Cell Research- Signposts and Roadblocks, July 7, 2005, The New England Journal of Medicine.

Introduction:

Stem-cell- an unspecialized cell that gives rise to differentiated cells

Embryo- an unborn or unhatched offspring in the process of development, especially an unborn human in the first eight weeks from conception.

In Vitro Fertilization- fertilization taking place in a test tube, culture dish, or elsewhere outside a living organism

Stem-cell research is a very controversial subject involving the use of donated human embryos to research cures for diseases such as Parkinson's disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, and various other ailments. There are many scholars who believe stem-cell research is unethical due to the use of human embryos. In the U.S.A. especially many boundaries are set limiting the research capabilities of stem-cells derived from embryos.

Content:

This article states the progression for stem-cell research in the United States. The article begins by stating how new ethics guidelines were set by the National Research Council and the National Institute of Medicine which were accepted gladly by scientists and lawmakers. The article explicates that opponents of stem-cell research feel it is immoral to destroy human embryos to derive new stem-cell lines. Embryonic stem cells are obtained from the inner cell mass of an embryo in the blastocyst stage. The article also explains the use of a new technique know as Somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). The process of transferring the nucleus of a differentiated cell into a human oocyte whose nucleus has been removed is known as SCNT. The result is a cell in the blastocyst stage. This sort of stem-cell therapy has great potency for giving patient-specific cures. The downside of SCNT is that it requires women to donate fresh oocytes, which some consider more ethically wrong than donation of embryos. Also oocytes cannot be frozen like embryos. The problem of creating chimeras due to cross fertilization of human and animal cells has also been solved by the guidelines. The committee advises that chimeras may not be made using human cell and primate blastocysts. The article also explains how collection of oocytes are