Stem cell research A stem cell is a cell that gives other cells the ability to develop into many

different cell types in the body and this gives a rise to the specialized cells . In many tissues , it will serve as a sort of internal repair system to replenish the other cells, without any limit , as long as the person is still alive. When stem cells divide, the new cell can remain as a stem cell or to become another type of cell with more specialized function. Some examples include muscle cells, red blood cell or a brain cell. Stem cells have two characteristics which make them different from ordinary cells. Firstly, they are able to renew themselves through cell division or even sometimes after periods of long activity. Secondly, under certain experimental conditions, then they can be induced to be specific organ cells with specific functions. There are two types of stem cells in animals and humans : embryonic stem cells and nonembryonic "somatic" or "adult" stem cells. Stem cells are important for living organisms because the inner cells ( blastocyst ) give a rise in the number of cells in the entire body of the organism.They are able to regenerate and replace cells that were injured through normal wear, tear, injury or disease

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Can Stem Cells mend a broken heart ? : Stem Cells as a cure for future Heart disease. Cardiovascular disease (CVD), including hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, and congestive heart failure, has ranked the number one cause of death in the United States .Almost 2600 Americans die of CVD each day, approximately one person every 34 seconds. The aging of the population and the recent increases in cardiovascular risk factors such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, CVD is a significant health concern well in the 21st century.

Cardiovascular disease can deprive heart tissue of oxygen, which therefore kills the cardiac muscle cells (cardiomyocytes). This loss triggers a formation of scar tissue or an overloading flow of blood and pressure capacity. There is also an overstretching of viable cardiac cells attempting to sustain cardiac output. This eventually leads to heart failure, and death. To restore damaged heart muscle tissue, through repair or regeneration, is a potentially new strategy to treat heart failure. Embryonic and adult-derived stem cells for cardiac repair are widely researched on. A number of stem cell types, including embryonic stem (ES) cells, cardiac stem cells that naturally reside within the heart, muscle stem cells, adult bone marrow-derived cells including bone marrow-derived cells that give rise to tissues, endothelial progenitor cells ,cells that give rise to the endothelium, interior lining of blood vessels and umbilical cord blood cells, have been listed as sources for regenerating damaged heart tissue. All have been explored in smaller animals e.g. Rats and some have been tested in larger animals for e.g. pigs. A few small studies have also been carried out in humans who undergo heart surgery. It showed stem cells that are injected into the circulation or directly into the injured heart tissue improves the cardiac function and induces the formation of new capillaries. The mechanism for this repair remains controversial, and it also showed that the stem cells regenerate the heart in several ways. However, the numbers of stem cells that have been

tested in these experiments widely also have their own conditions of their purification and application. Although much more research is needed to ensure the safety and improve this approach, it shows how stem cells may one day be used to repair damaged heart tissue, thereby reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease.

For people who suffer from type 1 diabetes, the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin are destroyed by the patient's own immune system. New studies show that it might be possible to direct the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells in cell culture by forming insulin-producing cells that will eventually be used in transplantation therapy for people with diabetes. To understand the promise of novel cell-based therapies for such pervasive and debilitating diseases, scientists must be able to manipulate stem cells so that they will have the necessary characteristics for successful differentiation, transplantation, and engraftment. To be useful for transplant purposes, stem cells must be reproducibly made to: Proliferate extensively and produce sufficient quantities of tissue, able to differentiate into the different cell types, survive in the person after the transplant, integrate into surrounding tissues after transplant, and function appropriately for duration of the recipient's life.adn to also avoid harm to the recipient in any way.

To avoid problems of immune rejection, scientists are experimenting with different research strategies to generate tissues that will not be rejected. stem cells offer exciting promise for future therapies, but significant technical hurdles remain that will only be overcome through

many years of intensive research. . News article:

Although you are familiar with the basics of stem cells but maybe you were not aware that there are different types, or potencies of stem cells. Totipotent stem cells are basically one of the most important stem cells types as they have potentials to develop into any cell that are found in the human body. During the human development, the egg cell in a woman and the sperm cell from a man fuse together forming a single cell that is called the zygote. The zygote divides numerous times and it is able to form cells that are the precursors to the trillions of cells that constitutes the human body. It may sound quite complicated and in a way that it is, when you consider that a simple cell has potentials to be able to develop into a specialised cell with a specific job in the body. Although it is simple, it is a clear sequence of events that begins with an egg cell and a sperm cell. The zygote then begins cell divisions that are capable to form the entire human body. These cells are called Totipotent stem cells because they have the total potential to function and form the human body. What Happens to the Zygote? Totipotent stem cells are the most capable in various ways of all the stem cell types. As mentioned, a totipotent zygote cell is created when a single celled sperm and egg are fused together. This totipotent fertilised egg will then have the potential to give rise to all human cells, such as nerve or heart. This takes place during the early cell divisions in embryonic

development that more totipotent cells are produced. Within several days, these totipotent cells divide and create replicas, which therefore produces more totipotent cells. After a duration of approximately four days ,the cells will then begin to specialise into pluripotent cells, which can go on to specialise further but they are not able to produce an entire organism as totipotent cells can. Basically, the pluripotent stem cell can do everything the totipotent cells can except for creating an entire organism. When Does a Totipotent Stem Cell Change? A fertilised egg has totipotency, or total potential for about four days. After days of fertilisation, the totipotent stem cell divides and then to cause more specialised stem cells known as the pluripotent stem cells. Like totipotent stem cells, pluripotent stem cells can regenerate and give rise to trillions of cells in the body. What are the Special Qualities of a Totipotent Stem Cell? The earlier stage foetal stem cells are totipotent because: They are able to become any cell type in a fully developed human They able to multiply in unlimited numbers without losing their total potency The ability of totipotent stem cells to differentiate into any cell in an organism including embryonic tissue is an important distinct quality. A human totipotent stem cell can therefore have the ability to develop into any cell in the body, including placental cells.

Benefits of Totipotent Stem Cells All stem cells have the potential to develop into different cell types, but totipotent cells can develop into any cell type.This advantages makes them to be ideal for cell and gene therapies as well as tissue engineering for transplants and to replace diseased cells. This means that the therapeutic value of totipotent stem cells is extremely large. Through the learning process of division, we can find out what goes wrong in disease states and then find alternatives ways to prevent diseased cell production and division. The difficult challenges that the reasearches normally face is to appease the ethical concerns around the harvesting of totipotent foetal cells. This is balanced by supporters who support the huge range of benefits to those who are suffering from diseases. For now, it does not appear to be an answer to satisfy all members of the public as well as scientists and government agencies. The effectiveness of treatments or even a cure for many weakening diseases is, however, a reason enough to search for treatments with totipotent stem cells that everyone can live with.

There are very great amounts of information about stem cells and weeding .This can be disheartening for many of us. This fact sheet provides a clear overview of some stem cell basics and this will also at the same time allow you to move on to further reading in areas that stimulates your interest. Unique Properties of Stem Cells Stem cells have several unique properties that separate them from other cells:

They are unspecialised cells. They can grow my multiplication of parts or self-renew, which means they are able to replenish themselves for long periods of time by division. They able to differentiate into specialised cells such as a nerve cell or a heart cell.

Potency of Stem Cells A stem cell's potency is referred to as its ability to give rise to other cells in the body. Stem cells can be separated into several potency categories:

Totipotent stem cells are able to differentiate into any type of cell in the human body, including the placenta. Pluripotent stem cells: they descend from totipotent stem cells and after several days, can differentiate into any type of cell except for totipotent stem cells. Multipotent stem cells descend from pluripotent stem cells and can differentiate into many different cell lines within a specific type of tissue. Unipotent stem cells: this type of stem cells is a part of a multipotent stem cell and can only give rise to a single cell type.

Sources of Stem Cells Stem cells are derived from several sources and research is currently ongoing for therapeutic use of stem cells .The isolation and extraction of stem cells allows them to be categorised as:

Embryonic stem cells are basically extracted from embryos and they also hold the most potential, because these cells can give rise to any specialised cells in the human body. Adult stem cells are present in adult tissues like the bone marrow, brain and blood but they are limited in potential relative to embryonic stem cells. Cord blood stem cells: this source of stem cells is being derived from cord blood and it is capable of holding a very large potential in treating disease.

Benefits of Stem Cells Stem cells are currently used to treat cancers for example, leukaemia. You may be quite familiar with the idea of bone marrow transplants, which have been used for a long time to provide a healthy source of cells in the body. Other diseases that stem cells may help include:

Parkinson's disease Stroke Spinal cord injuries Retinal diseases Alzheimer's disease Type I diabetes

Why the Ethical Debate? The derivation of stem cells from an embryo has caused a massive debate amongst the public, politicians, scientists and religious groups. As an embryo is destroyed after stem cells are extracted, opponents argue that this is equal to killing a potential life. Fortunately, newer techniques are currently being investigated which allows for embryonic stem cell extraction without the need of destroying an embryo or to create one with the potential for life. Supporters also argue that the potential benefits of stem cells exceeds the value of the ethical concerns. It is important to have a basic understanding of stem cells as they are currently used to treat diseases such as cancer that may one day affect you or one of your family members. The public will also hold some responsibility to challenge researchers when we see research areas that potentially cause ethical problems. It is mainy the public who can help to ensure

the stem cell research is transparent and properly performed. This also allows everyone to understand the full and extensive benefits of stem cell research.

Good and Bad of the Stem Cell Debate Opponents of embryonic stem cell research compare the destruction of an embryo to an abortion. They believe that the embryo forms life because it has the potential to fully develop into a human being. Those against embryonic stem cell use believe that this violates the moral principles and it is also unethical to destroy one life to save another. By using stem cells and discarding the embryo, many people think that human life is ultimately deprived of value by this act which leads to further scientific procedures that similarly deprives the value of life. In particular, there are many religious groups who are very right-to-life have a strong disapproval of embryonic stem cell research and all of its applications. Other arguments against embryonic stem cells cite the fact that adult stem cells are the ones currently being used in therapies and therefore, there is not a need to even explore further into the embryonic stem cell territory. Those who support embryonic stem cell research believe that an embryo is not equal to human life because it is inside the womb. Supporters also oppose that the societal costs of many diseases and conditions, both in monetary and suffering aspects, means that the ethical concerns regarding embryonic stem cell usage are not sufficient to guarantee the discontinuation of this promising therapy. Another argument for embryonic stem cell research is that the embryos which are leftover from in-vitro fertilisation and would otherwise be destroyed, so they should instead be put to a greater use. Further down the line in development , those embryos from legal abortions, which have already been destroyed, would be better used to advance human health rather than to be simply discarded.

Unfortunately, politics have played a relatively large role in stem cells, which left many people helpless to influence the progress of this potential therapy. With politics comes funding, religious and other personal views tend to get into the mix as well. US Policies on Stem Cells The US has changed over the years in terms of political stem cell views. In the earlier days of stem cell research, the US played a more active role. In the last decade, however, the US

has significantly fallen behind as stem cell research as Britain and other parts of the world have continued to further their research of stem cells. Religious Views A key reason for the US falling 'behind' was due to the Bush administration policies on stem cell research. Many of these policies were strongly opposed of stem cell research by religions and anti-abortion views. As such, funding for embryonic stem cell research was virtually at a standstill. Discarded embryos from failed in vitro fertilisation procedures became a greater challenge for the scientist to obtain for research purposes and existing stem cell lines similarly became difficult to access. Top Ten Things to Know About Stem Cell Treatments Many clinics that are offering stem cell treatments make claims about what stem cells can and cannot do that are not supported by our understanding of science. These informations corrects some of the misinformation that is being widely circulated.

1. There are different types of stem cellseach with their own purpose. There are many different types of stem cells that come from different places in the body or being formed at different times in our lives. These include embryonic stem cells that exist only at the earliest stages of development and there are various types of tissue-specific or adult stem cells that appears during fetal development and cells that remain in our bodies throughout our life. Our bodies use different types of tissue-specific stem cells for a certain purpose. Tissuespecific stem cells are limited in their potential and largely make the cell types found in the tissue . For example, the blood-forming stem cells (or hematopoietic stem cells) in the bone marrow regenerates the blood, while neural stem cells in the brain makes up brain cells. A neural stem cell will not naturally make a blood cell and likewise a hematopoietic stem cell will not naturally form a brain cell. Thus, it is unlikely that a single cell type could be used to treat a range of unrelated diseases that involve different tissues or organs.

2. A single stem cell treatment will not work on a multitude of unrelated diseases or conditions. Each type of stem cell fulfills a specific function in the body and cannot make cell types from other tissues. Thus, it is not likely that a single type of stem cell treatment can treat various unrelated conditions, such as diabetes and Parkinsons disease. The causes are very different and different cell types would need to be replaced to treat each condition. It is very important that the cell type used as a treatment be appropriate to the specific disease or condition. Embryonic stem cells may one day be used to generate treatments for a range of human diseases. However, embryonic stem cells themselves cannot directly be used for therapies as they will cause tumors and not likely to become the cells needed to regenerate a tissue on their own.Firstly, they will need to be coaxed to develop into specialized cell types before transplantation. A major warning sign that a clinic may not be credible is when treatments are offered for a wide variety of conditions but they rely on a single cell type. 3. Currently, there are very few widely accepted stem cell therapies. Various diseases where stem cell treatments have been shown to be responsible for conducted clinical trials is still extremely restricted. The best therapy to treat these diseases is through blood stem cell transplantation .These help to treat the conditions of the blood and immune system, restoring the blood system after treatments for specific cancers. Some bone, skin and corneal diseases or injuries can be treated with grafting of tissue that will depend upon stem cells from these organs. These therapies are also generally accepted as safe and effective by the medical community. 4. Just because people say stem cells helped them doesnt mean they did. There are three main reasons why a person might feel better that are unrelated to the actual stem cell treatment: the placebo effect, accompanying treatments, and natural fluctuations of the disease. The strong belief that a treatment will work can cause a person to experience positive physical changes, such as improved movement or less pain. This is known as the placebo effect. Having a positive conversation with a doctor can cause a person to feel improvement. Likewise, other techniques offered along with stem cell treatment like changes to diet, relaxation, physical therapy, medication, etc. may make a person feel better in a way that is unrelated to the stem cells. Also, the severity of symptoms of many conditions can change over time, which results in temporary improvement or decline, which can complicate the interpretation of the effectiveness of treatments. These factors are so widespread that without testing in a controlled clinical study, is very difficult to

determine the real effect of any therapy. Be wary of clinics that measure or advertise their results primarily through patient testimonials. 5. A large part of why it takes time to develop new therapies is that science itself is a long and difficult process. In general, science is a long and involved process. To understand what goes wrong in disease or injury and how to fix it takes time. New ideas have to be tested first in a research laboratory, and in several cases, the new ideas do not turn out well. Even once the basic science has been established, this translates it into an effective medical treatment is a long and difficult process. Something that looks promising in cultured cells may fail as a therapy in an animal model and something that works in an animal model may fail when it is tested in humans. Once therapies are tested in humans, ensuring patient safety becomes an important issue and this means starting with very few people until the safety and side effects are better understood. If a treatment has not been carefully well studied and gone through the necessary preclinical and clinical testings, it is not likely to have the desired effect. Even more concerning is that it may prove to make the condition worse or have dangerous side effects. 6. To be used in treatments, stem cells will have to be instructed to behave in specific ways. Bone marrow transplantation is typically successful because we are asking the cells to do exactly what they were designed to do, make more blood. For other conditions, we may want the cells to behave in ways that are different from how they normally work in the body. One of the greatest challenge to the development of successful stem cell therapies is to get the cells to behave in the desired way. Also, once transplanted inside the body the cells need to integrate and function with the bodys other cells. For example, to treat many neurological conditions the cells we implant will need to grow into specific types of neurons, and to work they will also have to know which other neurons to make connections with and how to go about making these connections. We are still learning about how to direct stem cells to become the right cell type, to grow only as much as we need them to, and the best ways to transplant them. To discover how to do all this will take time. Be wary of claims that stem cells will somehow just know where to go and what to do to treat a specific condition. 7. Just because stem cells came from your body doesnt mean they are safe. One thing everybody should know is that very medical procedure has risks. When you are not likely to have an immune response to your own cells, the procedures used to acquire,

grow and deliver them are potentially risky. As soon as the cells leave your body they may be subjected to a number of manipulations that could change the characteristics of the cells. If they are grown in culture (a process called expansion), the cells may lose the normal mechanisms that control growth or may lose ability to specialize into the cell types you need. The cells may become infected with bacteria, viruses or other pathogens that could cause disease. The procedure to either remove or inject the cells also has risks, from introducing an infection to damaging the tissue into which the way they are injected. 8. There is something to lose by trying an unproven treatment. Some clinics claim that stem cells are able to cure rare diseases which other cells might not be able to cure them. This makes it easier to understand why people might feel they have nothing to lose from trying something even though it is not proven. However, there are cases of real risks which develops complications, both immediate and long-term, while the chance of experiencing a benefit is very low. There was one case where a young boy developed brain tumors as a result of a stem cell treatment. By participating in an unproven treatment , it may make a person ineligible to participate in upcoming clinical trials (see also number 9). Where cost is high, there might be a long-term financial implications for patients, their families and communities. If travelling is involved there will be additional considerations, not the least of which is being away from family and friends. 9. An experimental treatment offered for sale is not the same as a clinical trial. The fact that a procedure is experimental does not automatically mean that it is part of a research study or clinical trial. A responsible clinical trial can be characterized by a number of key features. There is preclinical data supporting that the treatment being tested is likely to be safe and effective. Before starting, there is oversight by an independent group such as an Institutional Review Board or medical ethics committee that protect patients rights, and in many countries the trial is assessed and approved by a national regulatory agency, such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The study itself is designed to answer specific questions about a new treatment or a new way of using current treatments, often with a control group to which the group of people receiving the new treatment is compared. Typically, the cost of the new treatment and trial monitoring is defrayed by the company developing the treatment or by local or national government funding. Beware of expensive treatments that have not passed successfully through clinical trials. Responsibly-conducted clinical trials are important for developing a type of treatment to cure a certain disease. This not only helps us to know if it is safe, but also effective. The ISSCR supports participation in responsible clinical trials after a careful consideration of the issues

highlighted on this site and in discussion with a well trusted physician. 10. Stem cell science is constantly moving forward. Stem cell science is in a strange way, promising. There have been great advances in treating diseases and conditions of the blood system using blood-forming stem cells, and through these examples, it just shows us just how powerful stem cell therapies can be. Scientists all over the world are researching ways to harness stem cells and to learn more about them and to diagnose patients with different conditions. Every day scientists are working on new ways to develop and control different types of stem cells in ways that will bring us closer to develop new types of treatments. Many of the potential treatments are currently being tested in animal models .Even some have already been brought to clinical trials. In February 2010 the British company ReNeuron announced it had been approved to conduct a Phase I clinical trial of a neural stem cell treatment for stroke. The first embryonic stem cell-based treatment for acute spinal cord injury has been authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to move into Phase I clinical trials. Although sometimes many of us are not able to see it, but stem cell science is forging ahead very quickly. We believe that stem cell therapies will someday be available to treat a wide range of human diseases and conditions Promising stem-cell research threatened by risk of rejection By Andrew Pollack The New York Times Posted: 05/14/2011 01:00:00 AM MD In an unexpected setback to efforts to harness a promising new type of stem cell to treat diseases, researchers reported on Friday that the tissues in our body made from those stem cells might be rejected by a patient's immune system, even though the tissues would be derived from the same patient. The research involved induced pluripotent stem cells, or another term for it - iPS cells, which can be made from skin cells and which appear to have the same characteristics of embryonic stem cells. That means they can be able to be turned into nerve, heart, liver or other types of cells and transplanted to repair damaged organs. Initially, the creation of human iPS cells in 2007 electrified scientists as the cells had two very big advantages over the embryonic cells. They were not controversial because their

creation did not cause the destruction of human embryos and because the stem cells can be made from a particular patient's skin cells, they could also be used to make tissues that will probably not be rejected by that patient's immune system. But that latter assumption was never really tested, until now. When Yang Xu, a biologist at the University of California, San Diego, and his colleagues did so, they found that iPS cells made from mouse skin cells were actually rejected by genetically identical mice. Other scientists were surprised by the results, published online Friday in the journal Nature. "The path to the clinic has just gotten a lot murkier," said Dr. Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer of Advanced Cell Technology, a company trying to develop medical treatments using both embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells. He said it was not clear that the results in mice would hold true for humans, though some other scientists said they claimed they would.