Stem Cell Research

Greg Reimer

Eng 115

20 March 2007

Stem Cell Research

With my mother studying to become a Registered Nurse she has brought several new ideas about stem cell research to my attention. She told me that the first person to interest her in stem cells was her Anatomy and Physiology professor. He mentioned during one of her lectures that stem cells can become any part of the human body if programmed correctly. What is stem cell research? Stem cells are defined from the website written by Don Ralbovsky, which is the government website:

"As cells that have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body. Serving as a sort of repair system for the body, they can theoretically divide without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential to either remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell."

The research on stem cells may be the greatest discovery of our life time, even though it has caused major controversies with the pro-life advocates. The pro-lifers are concerned by some of the stem cells being harvested from aborted and in vitro embryos. Harvesting stem cells this way can kill the embryo and the pro-lifers feel this is murdering a potential new life, which is true, but what lives could scientist and medical personnel be saving? The research I have compiled show how amazing these small stem cells are, and what could be accomplished if the research is continued.

Even through the controversies, the research happening in the laboratories are moving by leaps and bounds. Why, we ask is stem cell research so beneficial? Some of the reasons are the possible in vitro embryos that will not go to waste when the parents are finished having their children. In vitro is used when couples are having problems getting pregnant. Doctors fertilized eggs with sperm in laboratories and deposit them in the uterus of the female. The unused embryos are then discarded when the parents have the amount of children they had planned. Another reason is the new uses of stem cells from adults that could be used for curing specific diseases, which would move scientists away from just using embryos. The final reason is the different diseases that could be cured using the in vitro embryos and the adult stem cells.

There are several ways that stem cells can be harvested. One way is the use of stem cells from in vitro embryos. Stem cells used from unwanted in-vitro embryos, to me, is very acceptable. These embryos will go to waste if not used for this purpose. Parents of these in-vitro embryos have several different choices to make with their unused embryos. They can adopt them out to other parents that cannot make their own embryos. This rarely happens because parents of the embryos do not want their offspring going to other people. Parents can store them; again this rarely happens because storing the embryos is very expensive. Most parent of the extra embryos just discard them, which kills the embryos. Using the embryos for stem cell research would at least stop the embryos from going to waste and possibly help another person have a better life. Embryonic stem cells are the cells that may in the future be used to produce the growth of and entire organ to help with the shortage of transplant organs. Per the article by Cynthia Wagner, "Values, Conflicts in Stem-Cell Research," the ability of embryonic stem cells to develop into more cell types that adult stem cells is what makes them more promising for research and for the future of therapy and cures." This article also shows that around fifty percent of the people that were surveyed for the article felt that human embryos need to be protected, even if it hampers the development of new medication to cure diseases. These views were changed and the percentages went down, when the mentioning of just using in-vitro embryos for harvesting, instead of aborted embryos. The harvesting of stem cells from embryos kills the embryo, so many people feel that harvesting in this manner is murder, but people are more acceptable to the use of in vitro embryos. This is a step forward for the use of the in-vitro embryos.

One other way for stem cells to be harvested is through adult stem cells. Adult stem cells are more difficult to use due to it being difficult to isolate them from the tissues and organs of the body. The good thing about the adult cells is the cells that have been differentiated, are found in large quantities in every type of tissue. The website written by Don Ralbovsky, also states that there are three steps to identify and test adult stem cells, the steps are as follows:

(1) labeling the cells in a living tissue with molecular markers and then determining the specialized cell types they generate; (2) removing the cells from a living animal, labeling them in cell culture, and transplanting them back into another animal to determine whether the cells repopulate their tissue of origin; and (3) isolating the cells, growing them in cell culture, and manipulating them, often by adding growth factors or introducing new genes, to determine what differentiated cells types they can become.

The adult stem cells that have been isolated have already developed into tissues. These adult stem cells are found in the brain, peripheral blood, blood vessels, skeletal muscles, skin, liver, but the main location being used is from the bone marrow. Theses cells are harvested from the marrow in the back upper hip called the iliac crest. A recent theory called "stem cell plasticity" shows that adult stem cells may be used to form many more stem cells than previously thought. Bone marrow cells were only thought to form blood cells, now these cells may be used to regenerate organs such as the livers, kidneys, and maybe hearts. This would be a step in the right direction to move away from the use of embryonic stem cells. I feel that using adult stems cells would be the most positive action that scientist should use if at all possible.

There are many diseases that could be cured by stem cells. Many diseases where tissues degenerate could be cured such as, Alzheimer's, spinal cord injuries, stroke, burns, heart disease, Type one diabetes, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, muscular dystrophy and liver disease per the website that is sponsored by the International Society for Stem Cell Research. The stem cells would be programmed into specific tissue that each of theses disease damages. There are also some stem cells in the retina that could cure blindness and stem cells in the