STEM CELL TECHNOLOGY

“Tissue engineering is an emerging

interdisciplinary field that applies
the principles of biology and
engineering to the development of
viable substitutes that restore,
maintain, or improve the function of
human tissues.”
 What are ‘viable substitutes’?

•On a large scale, certain surgical

interventions, like castration of a bull, have
led to alteration of tissue function.
•On a molecular level, gene therapy is has
been very successful with plants and animals
•On a cellular level, the research is currently
focused on stem cells.
 Stem Cell History
1998 - Researchers first extract stem cells from human
embryos
1999 - First Successful human transplant of insulin-
making cells from cadavers
2001 - President Bush restricts federal funding for
embryonic stem-cell research
2002 - Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
International creates $20 million fund-raising effort
to support stem-cell research
2002 - California ok stem cell research
2004 - Harvard researchers grow stem cells from embryos
using private funding
2004 - Ballot measure for $3 Billion bond for stem cells

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vulFDYeHNTw
 Stem cells
According to the Merriam-Webster Online
Dictionary, a stem cell is,
“an unspecialized cell that gives rise to
differentiated cells“

•A cell that has the ability to continuously

divide and differentiate (develop) into
various other kind(s) of cells/tissues
 Stem Cell Characteristics

 ‘Blank cells’ (unspecialized)

 Capable of dividing and renewing
themselves for long periods of time
(proliferation and renewal)
 Have the potential to give rise to
specialized cell types (differentiation)
Types of Stem Cell
• Embryonic – pluripotent: can form
almost any cell type in the human body

• Tissue-Specific (Adult) –
multipotent: can form only limited
types of cells (blood, brain, liver, etc.)

• Induced Pluripotent – engineered

by scientists to act like embryonic stem cells
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vkFU5dWjTU
This cell can form all of the
cells in the human body

This cell can form

almost every cell type
in the human body

Fully mature
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2pyDBMglfM&t=205s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZ7quNrUNk
 Applications
 Disease
• Diabetes, Spinal
cord injury,
Parkinson’s
disease, heart
disease
 Genetic based
Disease
• Cystic fibrosis,
Huntington’s
07/20/20 Dr. Hariom Yadav
 Challenges to Stem Cell/Cloning
Research
• Stem cells need to be
differentiated to the
appropriate cell type(s) before
they can be used clinically.
• Recently, abnormalities in
chromosome number and
structure were found in three
human ESC lines.

07/20/20 Dr. Hariom Yadav

 Challenges to Stem Cell/Cloning
Research

• Stem cell development or proliferation must

be controlled once placed into patients.
• Possibility of rejection of stem cell transplants
as foreign tissues is very high.

07/20/20 Dr. Hariom Yadav

 Challenges to Stem Cell/Cloning
Research
• Contamination by viruses, bacteria, fungi, and
Mycoplasma possible.
• The use of mouse “feeder” cells to grow ESC
could result in problems due to
xenotransplantation (complicating FDA
requirements for clinical use).

07/20/20 Dr. Hariom Yadav

 What progress has been made
to date?
• Autologous stem cells have been injected
into heart to regenerate damaged cardiac
tissue
• Corneal autologous stem cell grafts have
been used to treat eye disease & trauma
• Skin replacement has been grown with
stem cells for transplant in burn victims
 Progress…
• Autologous stem-cell cartilage grafts have
been used to treat joint disease
• Leukemia & other cancers have been
treated with stem cells from bone marrow
and umbilical cord blood
• A human mandible has been produced
using a titanium mesh and autologous
bone-marrow stem cells
 The future?
According to the Stem Cell Research Center:
Half Of All Americans Could Benefit From Stem Cell Research
Experts are predicting that stem cell research has the potential
to help up to half of all Americans, who suffer from some form of
presently incurable disease, injury or birth defect. Some of
Those conditions include:

One million children with juvenile diabetes

8.2 million people with cancer
58 million with heart disease
Four million suffering from Alzheimer's disease
10 million with osteoporosis
43 million arthritis sufferers
250,000 people paralyzed by spinal cord injuries
30,000 victims of Lou Gehrig's disease
500,000 with Parkinson's disease
STEM CELL ETHICS
see separate presentation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYRcmDySFyE
REFERENCES
 Stem Cells and
Regenerative Medicine

Zach Scheiner, PhD

Science Officer
INTRODUCTION OF STEM CELL
TECHNOLOGY

Hariom Yadav1, Shalini Jain1 and Mukesh Yadav2

1
nimal Biochemistry Division,
National Dairy Research Institute,
Karnal-132001, Haryana, INDIA
2
SOS in Chemistry, Jiwaji University,
Gwalior-474011, M.P., INDIA
Corresponding author: Email:
yadavhariom@gmail.com
An Introduction to
Tissue Engineering

Cindy Handley, PhD, MT(ASCP)

SCCC Biology Instructor