Preview

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Embryonic Stem Cells

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1243 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Embryonic Stem Cells
V.Ilich

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Embryonic Stem Cells

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells made from human somatic cells are a very recent technology of our world. They were first created using mice in 2006, and were created from human cells in 2007 by Japanese and US scientists. For many people, they represent a beautiful work of science that will help to save many lives. Induced pluripotent stem cells are human skin cells that have been reprogrammed to have the stem cells ability to differentiate into other somatic cells. The reprogramming is achieved by the insertion of four genes, which, once the process is complete, are removed and the cell has no traces of genetic modification. Another fantastic feature of the iPS is that it genetically matches the donor, so the immune system of the body is much more likely to accept the new cells. IPS cells were developed in the hope that they will one day be used in medical transplants to repair damaged tissues of the human body. They are also already being used in the modeling of diseases and in drug development. Another important way in which these cells are useful is that they take some of the pressure off the embryonic stem cell (ESC) research that is deemed so controversial. Because iPS cells originate from adult cells, no embryos are destroyed for the sake of valuable research. The advances made by the research done with iPS cells may lead us to discoverer cures for the most serious medical problems, mainly meaning birth defects and cancers. However, they may prove to be able to do much more than intended. Since iPS cells can be reprogrammed into cardiac, muscle, brain or even liver cells it is logical that they will be able to divide into entire organs. This would be fantastic, but it may also lead people to believe they’re invincible, because it may seem that no matter how badly they treat their bodies, or how recklessly they live, they will be able to obtain new cells and continue



References: Goodenough, P. (2009, March 4) New Stem Cell Advance is Both Ethical and Safe But Embryo Drive Continues. CNS NEWS Retrieved from http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=44455 Stem Cell Basics; What are the potential uses of human stem cells and the obstacles that must be overcome before these potential uses will be realized? Modified April 28 2009. The National Institutes of Health resource for stem cell research. Retrieved from http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics6.asp

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Embryos are essentially microscopic human beings. Regardless of what good they may provide to the field of medicine, the ethical controversies surrounding embryonic stem cell research are profound. Stem cells, the cells used by the human body to replenish damaged tissue, are found in both embryonic and adult form. At the adult level, stem cells can be extracted from bone marrow, but the real ethical debate arises when embryonic stem cells are introduced. “Pluripotent” embryonic stem cells are among the only type that can form any of over 200 cell types, making it the most useful and versatile. These cells are isolated from the inner cell mass of the embryo when extracted, and subsequently terminates the embryo itself, which is technically manslaughter. However, it must also be noted that embryonic stem cell research can provide effective treatments and even cures for those in need of organ transplants and other irremediable predicaments. Therefore, it is safe to say, from a utilitarian perspective, that the essential “death” of one embryo can save the lives of many, and with Jeremy Bentham’s phrase “the greatest good for the greatest number”; I believe that embryonic stem cell research is ethical.…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Due to recent discoveries, stem cell research will have many future medical possibilities. A recent stem cell breakthrough shows that cloning human organs or body parts to treat patients with injured organs or limb deficiencies could be possible. “The cloning techniques can also be used to grow organs for patients with a failing liver or kidney.” Because the newly cloned organ will be genetically identical to the one being replaced, rather than a donated one, the chances of it being rejected will be very low. Ultimately, this opens up many possibilities of curing patients with injuries, amputations, and failing organs. Stem cell research also reveals the ability to cure diseases. “Researcher Dieter Egli said their work was inspired by the thought of being able to take stem cells from embryos and use them to treat and even cure diseases. Worn out hearts could be patched up, aged brains could be rejuvenated and diabetics could be freed from the need to take insulin, all thanks to stem cells.” Stem cell researchers believe it is possible to cure diseases by replacing old organs with newly cloned ones. This will impact future medical possibilities because newer treatments will be out there and the ability to cure diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer may be possible. Furthermore, federal funding for stem cell research has been limited although by the popularity of its breakthroughs; stem cell research may receive federal funding in the near future. This will broaden stem cell research and allow scientists a greater chance of discovering new medical possibilities in the near…

    • 264 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The reason that embryonic stem cell researchers are agitating for taxpayer money is that their private funding has dried up. Private investors and venture capitalists are not investing in embryonic stem cell research because they perceive it to be a pipe dream unlikely to produce any progress and, hence, investment returns, in any reasonable time frame.…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stem Cell Research

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages

    One reason many people don’t agree with embryonic stem cell research is that they believe that scientists use embryos that have started to develop into babies. This is a myth (UMichigan). Scientists fertilize an egg in a dish, and use it 5 days after the fertilization when the embryo only contains about 100 cells, none of which are specialized (UMichigan). The embryo is no larger than a period at the end of a sentence (UMichigan). This embryo, although beginning to form, has no heart, no spine, no limbs, and no systems (UMichigan). If this was known by more people, then many people may change their minds about stem cell research.…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ethics of Stem Cell Research

    • 2751 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Stem cell research represents a new opportunity for ethical thought and debate. Stem cells are primitive cells which have yet to specialize. Through proper coaxing, stem cells can be made to differentiate into usable body cells and eventually used for medical treatment. Though stem cell technology has been in development since the 1960’s, it was not until August of 2001, when then-president George W. Bush announced that federal funds could be allotted to embryonic stem cell research, that the issue became a hot political topic. The matter is argued with vehement fervor, but the quarrels are wrought with emotivism and partisanship more than actual valid and cogent arguments. In fact, stem cell research has a very broad range of ethical implications. The normative ethical theories, the abortion debate, and even business ethics all have a place in the discussion due to the different new moral challenges which are prompted by this blossoming technology.…

    • 2751 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stem Cell Research

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages

    National Institutes of Health resource for stem cell research. (2009, 04 28). Stem cell basics. Retrieved from http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics1.asp…

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Goldstein, Lawrence S.B., "Stem Cell Research: For Balancing Benefits, Ethical Values," The San Diego Union-Tribune, July 6, 2001…

    • 1188 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stem Cell Research

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages

    As of May 18 2001, scientists have grown blood cells, blood vessel cells, bone cartilage, neurons, and skeletal muscle in petri dishes and continue to grow many other types of cells. This is encouraging news because a lot of diseases involve the death or dysfunction of a single type of cell. Scientists believe that the introduction of healthy cells into a patient will restore lost function. Since researchers have discovered how to isolate and culture stem cells, they have to figure out how to coax these cells into becoming the specialized cells and tissues that they need for transplant into patients. Discovering this process could lead to better means of preventing and treating birth defects and cancer. Also, it would produce an almost endless supply of human cells and tissues in the laboratory to test experimental drugs on.…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    President’s Council on Bioethics. "Monitoring Stem Cell Research." Medicine, Health, and Bioethics: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 485-488. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 1 July 2012.…

    • 2176 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    "Stem Cell Basics." Stem Cell Information. 06 Oct 2006. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health,…

    • 2842 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Stem Cell Research

    • 20373 Words
    • 82 Pages

    New treatment possibilities with revolutionary ideas about those treatments are expected soon from researchers. The key to these promises of revolutionary new treatments is the human stem cell. With this key, biological mysteries that have been longstanding could be solved. Diseases could be eliminated and human suffering could end.…

    • 20373 Words
    • 82 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    This paper will define embryonic stem cells. The paper will also discuss the history and the uses of embryonic stem cells for research. This paper will also inform the readers of the importance of stem cell for the treatment of some diseases. The researcher will reveal the similarities and differences between embryonic and adult stem cells. This paper will inform of the dangers of collecting embryonic stem cells from the donor. The researcher will also talk about why stem cell research is such a controversial issue and the misunderstandings of stem cell research from religious groups and other critics. This paper will elaborate on the potential uses of stem cells, such as cloning, and what must be overcome before the uses can be possible. Also it will disclose President Obama’s view on stem cells and the ban that was placed on the research. Finally, the primary focus of this paper is to determine if embryonic stem cell research is ethical.…

    • 970 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Imagine your life at the age of 32. It is as perfect as you could have ever imagined it. You are married with three beautiful children; two girls and a boy. Your oldest daughter is complaining of stumbling and clumsiness, so you take her to the doctor. You are devastated to learn that she, along with your other two children, have a neurological disorder called Batten Disease. This is a rare but always fatal disease. You are now going to have to go through what no parent ever wants to go through. You will have to watch your children wilt away like flowers. They will go blind, lose all motor skills, suffer from dementia and die a horrific, prolonged death. You will have to bury not only one, but all three of your children. This is a story of the Pinder family, whose children I went to school with. The oldest two children, both girls, are now deceased, and the youngest, a boy, is progressively getting worse. Unfortunately there is no cure for this disease on the market yet. The FDA has recently approved a clinical trial to use brain stem cells of fetal tissue to treat this disease; however the funding for stem cell research is either non-existent, or tied up in the court systems due to ethical and moral issues (Stem-Cell Funding’s). Even with the release of the funds for embryonic stem cell research, it would be too late to treat the last Pinder child. After seeing this family go through the loss of two children, and waiting in emotional turmoil for the death of their last child, I am for the study and research of embryonic stem cells. I hope that it could one day save families from the pain the Pinder’s are currently in.…

    • 2288 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stem Cell Reasearch

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages

    One of the ways to obtain stem cells for scientific research is to destroy a blastocyst (laboratory-fertilized human egg). Destroying the blastocyst is the equivalent of murder or ending a human life. Life begins at conception, and the destruction of this pre-born life is morally unacceptable and not justifiable. Even if the outcome of extracting these stem cells can be beneficial by saving or reducing suffering for generations in the future, destroying an embryo that is a few days old is simply an immoral thing to do. Maybe that blastocyst that was destroyed would have developed into an adult who would find an alternative way to try and cure diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Diabetes, Heart disease and strokes. Taking that risk is not worth it. Diseases like these should be curedTampering with human life is erroneous and avoidable. Destroying the blastocyst may be considered as "Humans trying to play God". An anonymous individual spoke about the destruction of the blastocyst for scientific purposes and said "A life is a life and that should never be compromised. A fertilized egg should be valued as a human life even if it is in its very first weeks. Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical."…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Great Stem Cell Debate

    • 2373 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Even though the harvesting of stem cells from embryos is considered murder by pro-lifers, researchers strongly support stem cell research because of the potential cures for fatal diseases and the decrease in deaths from lack of donor organs. Let us, however; start at the beginning by explaining what stem cells are. The photo below shows embryonic stem cells as pictured through a microscope viewfinder in a laboratory.…

    • 2373 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays