Stem Cell

Dear members of Legislature,

I am writing this letter to inform you all about my opinion on Stem Cell Research and experimentation with such ideas in mind. I did my research and found out a lot of information on the idea of Stem Cell Research. By looking at the information supplies by the online website, http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics1.asp, I had a good idea of what Stem Cell Research really was. This is what I found. Stem cells have two important characteristics that distinguish them from other types of cells. First, they are unspecialized cells that renew themselves for long periods through cell division. The second is that under certain physiologic or experimental conditions, they can be induced to become cells with special functions such as the beating cells of the heart muscle or the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.

Scientists primarily work with two kinds of stem cells from animals and humans: embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells, which have different functions and characteristics that will be explained in this document. Scientists discovered ways to obtain or derive stem cells from early mouse embryos more than 20 years ago. Many years of detailed study of the biology of mouse stem cells led to the discovery, in 1998, of how to isolate stem cells from human embryos and grow the cells in the laboratory. These are called human embryonic stem cells. The embryos used in these studies were created for infertility purposes through in vitro fertilization procedures and when they were no longer needed for that purpose, they were donated for research with the informed consent of the donor.

Stem cells are important for living organisms for many reasons. In the 3- to 5-day-old embryo, called a blastocyst, stem cells in developing tissues give rise to the multiple specialized cell types that make up the heart, lung, skin, and other tissues. In some adult tissues, such as bone marrow, muscle, and brain, discrete populations of adult stem cells generate replacements for cells that are lost through normal wear and tear, injury, or disease. (http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics1.asp)

I feel that the advancement in Stem Cell Research should continue for these reasons. Imagine the possibilities, there would be a lot less disease and more people would live longer and healthier lives. Destroyed cells could regenerate allowing for many healthy recoveries to take place.