Stem Cells technology Stem cell technology are unspecialized or undifferentiated cells that have the unique ability

to give rise to many different cell types such as skin, liver, kidney, heart, neuron or organ cells. Definition Stem cells -- could be used to repair or replaced damaged organs. --are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide (through mitosis) and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can selfrenew to produce more stem cells. --can now be artificially grown and transformed into specialized cell types with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves through cell culture. Highly plastic adult stem cells are routinely used in medical therapies. Stem cells can be taken from a variety of sources, including umbilical cord blood and bone marrow Types of Stem cells 1. Adult stem cells --Also known as somatic stem cells, they can be found in children, as well as adults. --pluripotent adult stem cells are rare and generally small in number but can be found in a number of tissues including umbilical cord blood --Adult stem cell treatments have been successfully used for many years to treat leukemia and related bone/blood cancers through bone marrow transplants 2. Embryonic stem cells --Embryonic stem cell lines (ES cell lines) are cultures of cells derived from the epiblast tissue of the inner cell mass (ICM) of a blastocyst or earliermorula stage embryos. A blastocyst is an early stage embryo approximately four to five days old in humans and consisting of 50150 cells. ES cells are pluripotent and give rise during development to all derivatives of the three primary germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm. In other words, they can develop into each of the more than 200 cell types of the adult body when given sufficient and necessary stimulation for a specific cell type. --A human embryonic stem cell is also defined by the presence of several transcription factors and cell surface proteins. The transcription factors Oct4,Nanog, and Sox2 form the core regulatory network that ensures the suppression of genes that lead to differentiation and the maintenance of pluripotency.

Disease cured by stem cell therapy 1. Spinal cord injuries --the stem cells are first collected from a patients bone marrow, extracted from the hipbone (iliac crest) then implanted back into the body days later. These reinjected stem cells have the potential to transform into multiple types of cells and are capable of regenerating damaged tissue 2. Diabetes mellitus --adult stem cells therapy with autologous stem cells fights at its roots, reducing hyperglycemia. These re-injected stem cells are capable of regenerating damaged cells such as pancreatic beta cells 3. Cancer --umbilical cord blood stem cells have been used to treat cancer patients with condition such as leukemia and lymphoma. The unfortunate side effect of the chemotherapy that the stem cell transplant attempts to reverse; 4. Stroke --several clinical trials targeting heart disease have shown that adult stem cell therapy is safe and effective. Adult stem cell therapy for heart disease was commercially available on at least five continents. 5. Tooth implanting --stem cells taken from the patient could be coaxed in the lab into turninginto a tooth bud which, when iplanted in the gums, will give rise to a new tooth. It will fuse with jawbone and release chemicals that encourage nerves and blood vessels to connect with it. 6. Deafness and blindness --there has been success in regrowing cochlea sensory hair cells with the use of stem cells. Using embryonic stem cells, scientist are able to grow a thin sheet of totipotent stem cells in the laboratory. When these sheets are transplanted over the damaged retina, the stem cells stimulate renewed repair, eventually restoring vision 7. Baldness --hair follicles also contain stem cells, and some researcher predict research on thses follicle stem cells may lead to successes in treating baldness though hair multiplication, also known as hair cloning. Treatment is expected to work through taking stem cells from existing follicles, multiplying them in cultures, and implanting the new follicle into the scalp

Advantages of stem cell Technology 1. It may allow advances in drug development 2. May serve as the tissue following imjury 3. The potential role of stem cells in treatment of previously incurable disease

Disadvantages 1. The primary disadvantage of adult stem cell research is that although these cells are available from the bone marrow of adults, they are limited in number. There are only so many cells that can be harvested from an individual, forcing scientists to make judicious use of the available quantity. 2. Adult stem cells do not have a long storage life. 3. Harvesting procedure itself is difficult. 4. There are still many unknowns associated with adult stem cells. 5. Embryonic stem cells are difficult to control and it may take many attempts before researchers are able to derive the desired cell line from them. 6. The use of embryonic stem cells involves the destruction of 5 to 7-day-old embryos, which has raised moral and ethical issues amongst the public. 7. Risk of immunogenic reaction as stem cells from a random embryo donor are more likely to face rejection after transplantation. 8. Cells may also trigger cancer or tumor formation because there are so many factors that are yet to be studied in detail.

Ethical issue about Stem cell Technology 1. Human potential and humanity This argument often goes hand-in-hand with the utilitarian argument, and can be presented in several forms: Embryos are not equivalent to human life while they are still incapable of surviving outside the womb. y More than a third of zygotes do not implant after conception. 2. Efficiency y y While the destruction of human embryos is required to establish a stem cell line, no new embryos have to be destroyed to work with existing stem cell lines

3. Superiority This is usually presented as a counter-argument to using adult stem cells as an alternative that doesn't involve embryonic destruction. y Embryonic stem cells make up a significant proportion of a developing embryo, while adult stem cells exist as minor populations within a mature individual. Thus, embryonic stem cells are likely to be easier to isolate and grow ex vivo than adult stem cells Embryonic stem cells divide more rapidly than adult stem cells, potentially making it easier to generate large numbers of cells for therapeutic means. In contrast, adult stem cell might not divide fast enough to offer immediate treatment Embryonic stem cells have greater plasticity, potentially allowing them to treat a wider range of diseases

4. Individuality y Before the primitive streak is formed when the embryo attaches to the uterus at approximately 14 days after fertilization, a single fertilized egg can split in two to form identical twins, or a pair of embryos that would have resulted in fraternal twins can fuse together and develop into one person (a tetragametic chimera). Since a fertilized egg has the potential to be two individuals or half of one, some believe it can only be considered a potential person, not an actual one. Those who subscribe to this belief then hold that destroying a blastocyst for embryonic stem cells is ethical. 5. Viability y Viability is another standard under which embryos and fetuses have been regarded as human lives. In the United States, the 1973 Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade concluded that viabilitydetermined the permissibility of abortions performed for reasons other than the protection of the woman's health, defining viability as the point at which a fetus is "potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid."

5. Moral and Ethical concerns y It is liable to abuse. It violates a persons right to individuality, autonomy, self-hood. It allows eugenic selection.

His journal goes into details of of the advantages of using stem cell lines mainly for therapeutic reasons with great emphasis on control.