Articles, Information and News on Stem Cells
Every new breakthrough in research also brings in new potential dangers and side effects. Same is the case with embryonic stem cell research. To make an effective outcome, we need to demonstrate the effectiveness and also identify and minimize the risks .
TIll now two major risks which have been identified are
Research with fetal tissue so far has been limited to only a few cell types: neural stem cells, including neural crest cells; hematopoietic stem cells; and pancreatic islet progenitors.
Neural stem cells, which are numerous in the fetal brain, can be isolated and grown in an undifferentiated form in culture, and they have been shown to differentiate into the three main types of brain cells.
These cells have been used in rodent models of Parkinson’s disease.
Neural crest cells arise from the neural tube and migrate from it throughout the developing fetus. They are able to develop into multiple cell types, including the nerves that innervate the heart and the gut, non-neural cells of hormone-secreting glands, pigment cells of the skin, cartilage and bone in the face and skull, and connective tissue in many parts of the body. Neural crest cells from mice have been cultured in the laboratory. [Read more...]
It is evident now that studies with human stem cells are essential to make progress in the development of treatments for human disease, and this research should continue. Recently US president lifted the ban on this research and paved a way for new inventions and discoveries.
It must be understood that we are still in infancy as far as stem cell research is considered. At the same time it is the need of time to monitor the research so that it does not go astray. Every research is a promise or threat. We must make sure that it does not become a threat.
Evaluation of potential risks to research subjects and ensuring compliance with all legal requirements must be done.
We must work for betterment of society. Stem cell is cutting edge and very promising. But it needs to be watched.
Apart from the differences in sources human embryonic and adult stem cells each offer advantages and disadvantages when channeled for potential use for cell-based regenerative therapies.
They differ in number and type differentiated cell types they can become.
Differentiation Capacity
While embryonic stem cells can become all cell types of the body because they are pluripotent, adult stem cells are limited to differentiating into their tissue of origin. [Read more...]
British scientists have developed a new technique that can rebuild a severely damaged heart, and one day, might replace the need for transplantation.
Researchers at Imperial College London revealed that stem cell heart surgery can help repair damaged hearts using progenitor cells derived from patients’ own cardiac muscle.
They have discovered a way to extract grow in the laboratory and then graft on a patient’s own muscle-building ells which then can be used to patch up the heart and increase its pumping power. Moreover it can increase the quality of life for people who suffer a heart attack.
“This could transform the care for patients who have had heart attacks or have heart disease,” the Telegraph quoted Nicholas Boon president of the British Cardiovascular Society as saying.
“Because the cell therapy uses a patient’s own cells it negates the risks or complications associated with other treatment options such as rejection linked to transplantation,” he said.
Source: TOI
Embryonic stem cells,are derived from embryos that develop from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro—in an in vitro fertilization clinic—and then donated for research purposes with informed consent of the donors.
The embryos from which human embryonic stem cells are derived are typically four or five days old and are a hollow microscopic ball of cells called the blastocyst.
The blastocyst is formed by
An adult stem cell is an undifferentiated cell found among differentiated cells in a tissue or organ. These cells can renew themselves and can differentiate to yield the major specialized cell types of the tissue or organ.
The primary roles of adult stem cells in a living organism are to maintain and repair the tissue in which they are found.
They are also termed as somatic stem cell. The origin of adult stem cells in mature tissues is unknown.
Adult stem cells have been found in many more tissues than they once thought possible. In right environment, certain kinds of adult stem cells seem to have the ability to differentiate into a number of different cell types, given the right conditions. If this is possible under lab conditions, these cells may become the basis of therapies for many serious common diseases.
About 40 years ago, researchers discovered that the bone marrow contains at least two kinds of stem cells. One population, called hematopoietic stem cells, forms all the types of blood cells in the body. A second population, called bone marrow stromal cells, generate bone, cartilage, fat, and fibrous connective tissue.
There are a very small number of stem cells in each tissue.They may remain non-dividing for many years until they are activated by disease or tissue injury.
The adult tissues reported to contain stem cells include brain, bone marrow, peripheral blood, blood vessels, skeletal muscle, skin and liver.
Struggle, however is to grow adult stem cells in cell culture and manipulate them to generate specific cell types so they can be used to treat injury or disease.
How To Identify Adult Stem Cells?
One or more of the following three methods are used to identify adult stem cells
Japanese researchers claim to have created functioning human brain tissue from stem cells, a world first that has raised new hopes for the treatment of disease.
Stem cells taken from human embryos have been used to form tissues of the cerebral cortex, according to experts at the government backed research institute Riken. The tissues self-organised into four distinct zones very similar to the structure seen in human fetuses, and conducted neuro-activity such as transmitting electrical signals.
“Transplanting tissues could raise hopes for greater functional recovery,” the institute said.
But study of invitro cultivation of more mature cortex tissue, such as those with six zones like in the adult human brain, will be stepped up. The tissues could also serve as “a mini organ” for studying the causes of Alzheimer’s disease.
Embryonic stem cells are harvested by destroying a viable embryo, a process that some find unacceptable. Riken said cortex tissues were also obtained from “induced pluripotent stem cells,” which are similar to embryonic stem cells but artificially induced.
Stem cell research is poised to become better. A boost to stem cell research is about to arrive when President of USA, Mr Barack Obama would announce the reversal of restriction imposed by Bush government.
The news has been reported by American Constitution Society Blog today.
President is likely to announce this on Monday. Today is Saturday. Two more days to go.
Earlier, Bush government had limited the lines of stem cells that scientists can study. This, while being hailed by religious groups was opposed by scientists.
Obama said the Bush order limiting stem cell research “handcuffed our scientists and hindered our ability to compete with other nations.”
This is a welcome news in science. Stem cell is the most promising research that medicine could ever take.
