Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research

The first embryonic stem cells were isolated from mice in 1981 and a great deal of research has been undertaken on mouse embryonic stem cells. A new era of stem cell biology began in 1998, when the derivation of embryonic stem cells from human blastocysts was first demonstrated.   Embryonic stem cells, as their name suggest, are derived from embryos. Specifically, embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that develop from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro-and an in vitro fertilization clinic-and then donated for research purposes with informed consent of the donors.   I am particularly interested in the research on stem cells and the advancing knowledge about how an organism develops from a single cell and how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult organisms. It is also very interesting to know that this area of science is also leading scientist to investigate the possibility of cell-based therapies to treat disease, which is often referred to as regenerative or reparative medicine.   Stem cells are one of the most fascinating areas of biology today. But like many expanding fields of scientific inquiry, research on stem cells raises scientific questions as rapidly as it generates new discoveries.   In a research milestone, the federal government will allow the world’s first test in people of a therapy derived from human embryonic stem cells.   President Obama is working on removing some of the financing restrictions placed on the field by then President George W. Bush. Thomas B. Okarma said that “he did not think that the Bush administration’s objections to embryonic stem cell research played a role in the F.D.A.’s delaying approval.”   Clearance is needed of the clinical trial for a treatment for spinal cord injury. Geron is the biotechnology company that was the first to apply to the Food and Drug Administration to conduct the trial in March of 2008. The F.D.A. at first opposed because they needed more information.   Some stem cells that are taken from... [continues]

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