STEM CELL THERAPY

DR. LOUELLA F. ONA [BS BIO, MAT BIO, MS ENVI MGMT, EDD
What is a stem cell?
Stem cells are cells with the potential to
develop into many different types of cells in
the body. They serve as a repair system for the
body.
There are two main types of stem cells:
embryonic stem cells (pluripotent stem cells)
and adult stem cells (somatic stem cells).
Pluripotent stem cells have the ability to
differentiate into all of the cells of the adult
body. Stem Cells are different from other cells in the body in
three ways:
Adult stem cells are found in a tissue or organ
1. They can divide and renew themselves over a long
and can differentiate to yield the specialized time.
cell types of that tissue or organ. 2. They are unspecialized, so they cannot do specific
functions in the body.
3. They have the potential to become specialized cells,
such as muscle cells, blood cells, and brain cells.
https://medlineplus.gov/stemcells.html
Why are stem cells important?

• Doctors and scientists are excited about stem

cells because they could help in many different
areas of health and medical research.

• Studying stem cells may help explain how

serious conditions such as birth defects and cancer
come about.

• Stem cells may one day be used to make cells

and tissues for therapy of many diseases.

• Examples include Parkinson's disease,

Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injury, heart
disease, diabetes, and arthritis.
 What is stem cell therapy and how does it work?

Stem cell therapy, also known as regenerative medicine,

is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or
condition.

• Researchers grow stem cells in a lab. These stem cells are

manipulated to specialize into specific types of cells, such as heart
muscle cells, blood cells or nerve cells.
• The specialized cells can then be implanted into a person. For
example, if the person has heart disease, the cells could be injected
into the heart muscle. The healthy transplanted heart muscle cells
could then contribute to repairing defective heart muscle.
• Researchers have already shown that adult bone marrow cells guided
to become heart-like cells can repair heart tissue in people, and more
research is ongoing.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bone-marrow-
transplant/in-depth/stem-cells/art-20048117#:
Have stem cells already been
used to treat diseases?
• Yes. Doctors have performed stem cell
transplants, also known as bone marrow
transplants.
• In stem cell transplants, stem cells replace
cells damaged by chemotherapy or disease or
serve as a way for the donor's immune system
to fight some types of cancer and blood-
related diseases, such as leukemia, lymphoma,
neuroblastoma and multiple myeloma.
• These transplants use adult stem cells or
umbilical cord blood.

• Researchers are testing adult stem cells to

treat other conditions, including a number of
degenerative diseases such as heart failure.
What are the • For embryonic stem cells to be useful in people, researchers must
potential problems be certain that the stem cells will differentiate into the specific cell
types desired.
with using
• Researchers have discovered ways to direct stem cells to become
embryonic stem specific types of cells, such as directing embryonic stem cells to
become heart cells. Research is ongoing in this area.
cells in humans?
• Embryonic stem cells can also grow irregularly or specialize in
different cell types spontaneously. Researchers are studying how to
control the growth and differentiation of embryonic stem cells.

• Embryonic stem cells might also trigger an immune response in

which the recipient's body attacks the stem cells as foreign
invaders, or the stem cells might simply fail to function normally,
with unknown consequences. Researchers continue to study how to
avoid these possible complications.
Why is there a controversy about using
embryonic stem cells?
• Embryonic stem cells are obtained from early-
stage embryos — a group of cells that forms when
a woman's egg is fertilized with a man's sperm in
an in vitro fertilization clinic.
• Because human embryonic stem cells are
extracted from human embryos, several questions
and issues have been raised about the ethics of
embryonic stem cell research. Where do these embryos come from?
• The National Institutes of Health created
guidelines for human stem cell research in 2009. • The embryos being used in embryonic stem cell
research come from eggs that were fertilized at in
• The guidelines define embryonic stem cells and vitro fertilization clinics but never implanted in a
how they may be used in research, and include woman's uterus.
recommendations for the donation of embryonic
stem cells.
• Also, the guidelines state embryonic stem cells • The stem cells are donated with informed consent
from embryos created by in vitro fertilization can from donors. The stem cells can live and grow in
be used only when the embryo is no longer special solutions in test tubes or petri dishes in
needed. laboratories.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4104807/
 Phase of research
Donation of biological materials Informed and voluntary consent
Research with hESCs
Ethical issues at
different phases of
stem cell research
Use of stem cell lines derived at
another institution
Stem cell clinical trials
Ethical issues
Destruction of embryos
Creation of embryos specifically
for research purposes
1. Payment to oocyte donors
2. Medical risks of oocyte
retrieval
3. Protecting reproductive
interests of women in infertility
treatment
Conflicting legal and ethical
standards
Risks and benefits of
experimental intervention
Informed consent
Fraudulent Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research in South
Korea: Lessons Learned

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1892198/
In June 2005, Seoul University investigator Woo Suk Hwang and 24 co-authors published what appeared to be a
ground-breaking paper in Science in which they claimed to have established eleven embryonic stem cell lines
containing nuclear DNA from somatic cells of research subjects (Hwang et al 2005).

In March 2004, Hwang’s research team had published another apparently important paper in which they claimed to
have established one cell line with the nuclear DNA from a research subject (Hwang et al 2004). If these two papers
had been valid, they would have represented a significant step forward in human embryonic stem cell research, since
they would have demonstrated the feasibility of a technique known as therapeutic cloning.

In therapeutic cloning, researchers transfer the nucleus from a somatic cell into an enucleated oocyte to create an
embryo, and stem cells are then harvested from the embryo.

Therapeutic cloning holds great promise as a medical therapy, since the patient’s immune system probably will not
reject embryonic stem cells, since these cells are genetically compatible with the patient’s own cells.

Hwang’s research put South Korea on the map as a biotechnology epicenter and made Hwang a national hero
(Normile et al 2006).
Trouble started brewing for Hwang’s research team in November 2005, when coauthor Gerald Schatten, from the
University of Pittsburgh, accused Hwang of misleading him about the sources of the oocytes used in the 2004 paper.

n the 2004 paper, which Schatten did not coauthor, Hwang and his colleagues indicated that the oocytes had come
from 16 donors

A report published in Nature alleged that the oocytes had come from two junior members of Hwang’s laboratory
(Vogel 2005).

Although not illegal, a subordinate’s participation in a supervisor’s research project is considered to be ethically
problematic, because it can be coercive (Hawkins and Emanuel 2005, Shamoo and Resnik 2003). Schatten ended his
collaboration with Hwang in November 2005.

Hwang, who initially denied these allegations, admitted in early December 2005 that two of the donors had been
junior members of his laboratory and that all of the donors had received up to $1400 in compensation for their
oocytes (Holden 2005).
A University of Pittsburgh committee investigated Schatten’s role in the scandal. Although the committee
found that he had not committed misconduct, it found him guilty of research misbehavior for shirking his
responsibilities as senior author on the 2005 paper to assure the veracity of the data and results.

According to the committee, Schatten failed to catch some inconsistencies in the paper and also failed to
ensure that each coauthor had approved the paper before it was submitted too Science.

The committee also found that Schatten probably did not deserve to be an author on the 2005 paper on
the world’s first cloned dog, since his only contribution to that paper was suggested that the authors hire
a professional photographer to take a photo of the dog.

Finally, the committee also found fault with the unusually high consulting fees that Schatten accepting for
working with Hwang’s team: Schatten received $40,000 in honoraria for collaborating with the team for
15 months (Holden 2006).
The human embryonic stem cell research scandal is the most significant episode of fraudulent research since the Piltdown Man,
because the stakes were so high. If the research had been sound, it would have been one of the most important developments in
biomedicine in the 21st century.

It would have brought money and glory to South Korea and could have earned Hwang a Nobel Prize. As it turned out, the
research is one of the biggest scientific disappointments in this century, which has been a set-back the field of embryonic stem
cell research (Check 2005).

Matters became much worse for Hwang later in mid-December when Science received a tip from an anonymous researcher that
two of the photos of stem cells in the 2005 paper were duplications. Soon, co-author Sung Roh told the media that Hwang had
confessed to fabricating evidence for nine of the eleven cell lines.

Hwang denied this charge. Schatten told Science that the data in the 2005 article could not be trusted, and Hwang and Schatten
asked for the article to be withdrawn. A committee from Seoul University began investigating Hwang’s research. By the end of the
month, the committee had determined that none of the DNA in the eleven cell lines reported in the 2005 paper matched the
DNA from the somatic cell donors.

The committee also determined that the data in the 2004 paper were also fabricated, and the authorship had been granted on
the 2005 paper for helping to procure oocytes.

However, the committee verified Hwang’s claim to have created the world’s first cloned dog, Snuppy, which was reported in
Nature (Lee et al 2005). Hwang resigned from his position at Seoul University and now face up to ten years in prison for fraud
(Normile et al 2006).
 ENERGY CRISIS
AND
ENVIRONMENTAL
AWARENESS

Photo from https://populationeducation.org/why-do-renewable-energy-sources-matter/

SOURCES OF ENERGY
RENEWABLE ENERGY
NON RENEWABLE ENERGY 1. SOLAR
1. COAL 2. GEOTHERMAL
2. OIL 3. HYDROPOWER
3. NATURAL GAS 4. WIND
5. BIOMASS
6. NUCLEAR POWER

Photo from https://www.ysgsolar.com/blog/top-5-renewable-energy-sources-ysg-solar

 Energy Crisis

Will we run out of energy ?

Is the energy crisis real?
CAUSES OF GLOBAL ENERGY CRISIS

1. Overconsumption 6. Wastage of energy

2. Overpopulation 7. Poor distribution system
3. Poor Infrastructure 8. Major accidents and natural calamities
4. Unexplored renewable 9. Wars and attacks
energy options 10. Miscellaneous factors like political events,
5. Delay in commissioning of strikes, tax hikes, severe weather changes
power plants

Photo from https://naveco.ca/2020/01/11/renewable-energy-sources-their-future-in-canada/

Will we run out of
energy ?

• The best way to sum up the

reality of the energy crisis is that
you cannot have growing
demands on limited resources
without eventually running out of
the resource.

https://twitter.com/rpeltd_/status/1016641522307981312
IS THE ENERGY
CRISIS REAL?

There is no real energy crisis if you

are not concerned about life after
your time on Earth is gone.

However, there is a genuine energy

crisis if you care about the future
that the next generations will
inherit.

Photo from https://www.thehappybroadcast.com/post/184249220931/renewable-energy-sources-now-account-for-around-a

ENVIRONMENTAL
AWARENESS

We need to learn about our environment because this is the only

way we can protect and take care of our planet and take action
to solve our environmental problems.

Photo from
https://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNe
w/WNDet/TabId/270/ArtMID/888/ArticleID/1037
/Students-as-Change-Agents-for-Environmental-
Issues.aspx
Basic Environmental
Principles
 Environmental Principles
1.) Nature knows best.
2.) All forms of life are important
3.) Everything is connected to everything else
4.) Everything changes
5.) Everything must go somewhere
6.) Ours is a finite earth
7.) Nature is beautiful and we are stewards of God’s creation!

https://caubalejopaul.wordpress.com/2016/12/03/enviro
nmental-principles/
Current Environmental Issues
1. Air Pollution
2. Water Pollution
3. Soil Pollution
4. Global warming
5. Climate Change
6. Deforestation
7. Increased Carbon Footprint
8. Red Tide
9. Coral Bleaching
10. Public health issues
11. Overpopulation
12. Loss of Biodiversity
 13. Solid waste
14. Ozone layer depletion
15. Natural resource depletion
16. Natural disasters
17. Nuclear issues
18. Habitat loss
19. Acid rain
20. Agricultural pollution
21. Urban sprawl

Current Environmental 22. Medical waste

Issues
Photo from https://www.sc-chem.co.jp/en/sustainability/environment/
 • Silent Spring is an environmental science book by
Rachel Carson.

• The book was published on September 27, 1962,

documenting the adverse environmental effects
caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides.

• Carson accused the chemical industry of spreading

disinformation, and public officials of accepting the
industry's marketing claims unquestioningly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Spring
Photo from https://www.behance.net/gallery/49155007/Book-and-magazine-covers
The overarching theme of Silent Spring is the
powerful—and often negative—effect humans
have on the natural world.
Carson's main argument is
that pesticides have
detrimental effects on the
environment; she says
these are more properly
termed "biocides" because
their effects are rarely
limited to the target pests.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Spring
https://quotesgram.com/silent-spring-rachel-carson-quotes/
Key Takeaway from Silent Spring
Tragedy of the Commons
by Garrett Hardin
Photo from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSuETYEgY68
The tragedy of
the commons
can be
considered in
relation to
environmental
issues such as
sustainability.
 • In 1833, the English economist William
Forster Lloyd published a pamphlet which
included a hypothetical example of over-use of
a common resource. This was the situation of
cattle herders sharing a common parcel of land
on which they were each entitled to let their
cows graze, as was the custom in English
villages. He postulated that if a herder put
more than his allotted number of cattle on the
common, overgrazing could result. For each
additional animal, a herder could receive
additional benefits, while the whole group
shared the resulting damage to the commons.
If all herders made this individually rational
economic decision, the common could be
depleted or even destroyed, to the detriment of
all.

• In 1968, ecologist Garrett Hardin explored

this social dilemma in his article "The Tragedy
of the Commons", published in the journal
Science.[2] The essay derived its title from the
Tragedy of the Commons pamphlet by Lloyd, which he cites, on the
over-grazing of common land.
Photo from https://study.com/academy/lesson/tragedy-of-the-commons-theory-
definition-examples.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons
 The Tragedy of the Commons: Fishing Rights

▪ The Grand Banks fishery off the coast of Newfoundland is a prime

example of the tragedy of the commons.
▪ For hundreds of years, fishermen in the area believed the fishing
grounds to be abundant with cod fish, because the fishery supported
all the cod fishing that they could do with existing fishing
technology while still reproducing itself each year through the
natural spawning cycle of cod fish.
▪ However, in the 1960s, advancements in fishing technology made it
so fishermen could catch comparatively massive amounts of cod
fish, which meant that cod fishing was now a rivalrous activity; each
catch left fewer and fewer cod fish in the sea, enough to begin
depleting the breeding stock and reducing the amount that could be
caught by the next fisher or the next season.
▪ At the same time, no effective framework of property rights nor
institutional means of common regulation of fishing was in place.
▪ Fishermen started competing with each other to catch increasingly
larger amounts of cod, and by 1990, the population of cod fish in the
region was so low, the entire industry collapsed
Photo from oecd observer

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/tragedy-of-the-commons
Tragedy of the Commons
Should we bother to conserve
common resources?

Photo from https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/tragedy-commons/

 GENE
THERAPY
 What is a gene?

A gene is the basic physical and functional unit of

heredity.
Genes are made up of DNA.
Some genes act as instructions to make molecules
called proteins. However, many genes do not code for
proteins.
In humans, genes vary in size from a few hundred DNA
bases to more than 2 million bases.

An international research effort called the Human

Genome Project, which worked to determine the
sequence of the human genome and identify the genes
that it contains, estimated that humans have between
20,000 and 25,000 genes.

https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/basics/gene/ https://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/
 Most genes are the
Every person has same in all people,
two copies of but a small number
of genes (less than
each gene, one 1 percent of the
inherited from total) are slightly
each parent. different between
people.

Alleles are forms These small

of the same gene differences
with small contribute to
differences in each person’s
their sequence of unique physical
DNA bases. features.
What is Gene Therapy?

• Gene therapy is an experimental

technique that uses genes to treat
or prevent disease.

• In the future, this technique may

allow doctors to treat a disorder by
https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/therapy/genetherapy
inserting a gene into a patient's
cells instead of using drugs or
surgery. Photo from https://medium.com/@bitcare1/what-is-a-
gene-ba3567514bef
How Does Gene Therapy
Work ?

• A new gene is inserted directly

into a cell.

• A carrier called a vector is

genetically engineered to deliver
the gene.

• An adenovirus introduces the

DNA into the nucleus of the cell,
but the DNA is not integrated into a
chromosome.
 Is Gene Therapy Safe ?
Although gene therapy is a
promising treatment option for a
number of diseases (including
inherited disorders, some types
of cancer, and certain viral
infections), the technique
remains risky and is still under
study to make sure that it will be
safe and effective

Gene therapy is currently

being tested only for diseases
that have no other cures.

https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/therapy/safety/