Pro Stem Cell Research Paper

A young, 18 year old lady named Maria Dmytrow submitted her pro stem cell research paper to our blog so I thought I would share it with the rest of you. Here it is:

Stem Cell Research: A New Generation of Health Care

A new generation of health care is right around the corner. The world of medicine is constantly changing before our eyes. The drastic change is to improve life and go beyond what can be expected. The goal of medical research is to improve health care, because health care today has not reached its highest potential yet, and is still a constant work in progress. Many advances have been brought about by medical research in the past and in recent years. The improvements that medical research has brought to us include cures for numerous types of illnesses, antibiotics and even pain medication. Without these improvements life would be very difficult today for the sick and injured. Life is still very difficult for some because there exist diseases that are not yet curable. Stem cell research is a new form of medical discovery with a great potential and is striving towards helping those who suffer. As breakthroughs come and go in medical research there are always controversial issues involved. Medical research has the potential to be one of the greatest things that happened to mankind. Stem cell research is a very controversial subject, but also one of the biggest breakthroughs in medical history. Stem cell research is a new form of science which will possibly cure diseases that are now considered fatal or incurable.

Stem cells are the key to future medicine and to health. “A stem cell is a cell that has the ability to divide (self replicate) for indefinite periods...under the right conditions, or given the right signals, stem cells can give rise (differentiate) to the many different cell types that make up the organism” (NIH). Stem cells are a brilliant creation and building blocks in our bodies that may be used to save lives in the future. This means scientists can reproduce different cell types and use them in organisms that are malfunctioning. There exist two main types of stem cells. “First is the embryonic stem cell which is an early embryo, and appears to have the greatest potential to generate a range of differentiated cells. Second is the adult stem cell which is differentiated in tissue developing and full-grown organisms. Several organs in the human body contain adult stem cells, such as the bone marrow, liver, intestine, brain and skin. The adult stem cell appears to have less potential because it is slightly more differentiated than the embryo” (Parson 281). Stem cells are found in many organs and tissues, and eventually will help heal countless number of people.

Being healthy is the key in life, and stem cell research will bring the future of medicine to reality. Stem cell research will be the new generation of health care and will help many to live longer, just like the current vaccines and medicines already changed the way we live. “One major goal of stem cell research is to provide healthy differentiated cells that, once transplanted, could repair or replace a patient’s diseased or destroyed tissues” (Monitoring Stem Cell Research 131). People suffer from many types of diseases. Some examples of the diseases people suffer from include autoimmune diseases such as Type-1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, lupus, and multiple sclerosis. Other diseases may occur in the heart, cause deafness, depression, spinal cord injury, and much more. Not only will stem cells heal the body in the future, but also cure these horrible diseases that cause the damage. The world is waiting for a medical miracle, and stem cells are the answer to what we have been waiting for. The more support we show for stem cell research, the more people will be able to live longer, and not suffer anymore. This will result in less doctor visits, and lower medical expenses. More human beings around the world will be able to live happy lives. Some of the diseases are life threatening, and the medical research wants to eliminate that threat.

Heart disease is one of the major health concerns in the United States. There exist a vast amount of people that are waiting for a heart transplant, and many die without receiving one. How wonderful would it be if you are just injected with stem cells and your heart regenerates itself to become healthy once again? What if you have Alzheimer’s disease and your nervous system loses nerve cells? What would you do? What if you have any other autoimmune disease? “Perhaps the only hope for treating such individuals comes from the potential to create new nerve tissue restoring function from pluripotent stem cells or specific stem cells. A pluripotent cells are capable of giving rise to virtually any tissue type, but not to a functioning organism. Human clinical experiments have demonstrated the potential effectiveness of this approach to treatment. The transplantation of stem cells reconstituted with the normal gene could result in restoration of immune function and effective normalization of lifespan and quality of life for these people” (Chapman, Frankel, and Garfinkel 45).

Diseases are a cruel reality in our world, and they affect millions of people today. An example of a disease that is very life threatening is an autoimmune disease called Type – 1 diabetes. Diabetes occur because “the human body converts the sugar glucose into cell energy for heart and brain functioning, and for all our mental activities. Glucose is stored as glycogen in the liver, and is released when needed into the bloodstream. Insulin is critical for regulating the body’s use of glucose and the glucose concentration in the circulating blood. The body’s failure to produce a sufficient amount of insulin results in diabetes” (Monitoring Stem Cell Research 131-135). It is an extremely common disease affecting 10 million Americans. It’s called autoimmunity because the body’s system attacks itself. Type-2 diabetes is another form of diabetes and is much more common than type – 1 diabetes. Type-2 diabetes causes complications in the retina, kidneys, nerves, and blood vessels. This is the “leading cause to blindness, kidney failure, amputations, and a major cause for heart attack” (Monitoring Stem Cell Research 131-137).

Current treatment for Type – 1 diabetes today is crude and consists of insulin injections, several times a day. Procedures are painful and sometimes do not “adequately control blood glucose concentrations. Type – 1 diabetes is a very deadly disease, which is why researchers are looking into stem cell therapy for Type-1 diabetes” (Monitoring Stem Cell Research 131-137). Researchers are experimenting on mice because they have a similar immune system to humans. Initial experiments showed that cells derived from some human stem cells transplanted into specific strains of mice mimicking major aspects of Type-1 diabetes were able to reverse high blood glucose concentrations. If stem cells are able to reverse the disease process, then they are for sure the doorway to new generation of health care.

Autoimmune diseases vary, and attack the body in a way no one can imagine. The chemicals that attacks the body are lymphocytes which all autoimmune diseases share. The lymphocytes exert a sustained attack on the body’s immune system tissues. A certain

stem cell called the pluripotent stem cell may put an end to the horrifying autoimmune disease. “A Pluripotent stem cell could be used in treatment of virtually all primary immunodeficiency diseases” (Chapman, Frankel, and Garfinkel 17).These are some things that certain diseases may cause to one’s body. “In multiple sclerosis, tissues in the central nervous system suffer. In rheumatoid arthritis, connective tissue suffers like cartilage. In diabetes, pancreatic tissue suffers. In lupus, tissue in the brain, lungs, kidney, and other organs can suffer” (Parson 219). “Stem cells, once appropriately differentiated, could correct many diseases and degenerative conditions in which bone or cartilage cells are deficient in numbers or defective in function.” This holds promise for future treatment of genetic Disorders. Similarly, cells could be cultivated and introduced into damaged areas of “joint cartilage in cases of osteoarthritis or into large gaps in bone from fractures or surgery” (Chapman, Frankel, and Garfinkel 18).

Stem cell research is attempting to create a solution from different types of stem cell types to heal the body and the organs that suffer. There are a variety of different kinds of stem cells in our body. These stem cells are located in the heart, bone marrow, umbilical cord, and elsewhere. Once all these different stem cells are cultivated, then we will have a chance to cure diseases easier. Peripheral blood stem cells, bone marrow transplantation, pluripotent stem cells, and stem cells might be all be used as possible future treatment of some autoimmune disorders. “There also has been a clinical trial done at Northwestern University in Chicago and at UMass, of forty lupus patients who have received peripheral blood stem cell transplants. Seventy five present appear in remission from active lupus, and twenty five percent have lapsed back into this serious disease” (Parson 220). The more clinical trials with stem cells are done, the further the research will progress.

Stem cell research is not simple and in fact is very complex. Researchers are learning new things everyday, and trying to process what they learned and apply it in their medical trials. They learned that stem cells come from different places, and can be used to cure tissues, organs, and possibly dreadful diseases. It may take another ten years for stem cells to be in a widespread use. Researchers and scientists are experimenting, and everyday they get new results. “Human stem cell research holds enormous potential for contributing to our understanding of fundamental human biology. Although it is not possible to predict the outcomes from basic research, such studies will offer the real possibility for treatments and ultimately for cures for many diseases for which adequate therapies do not exist” (Chapman, Frankel, and Garfinkel 4). Supporting stem cell research will guide health care to becoming a gift that everyone has been asking for. Life will be renewed and people won’t be so scared of catching diseases anymore.

“If there were no regeneration, there could be no life.

If everything regenerated there would be no death.”

Works Cited

Chapman, Audrey R., Frankel, Mark S., and Garfinkel, Michele S.

(1999). Stem Cell Research and Applications Monitoring the Frontiers of

Biomedical Research. American Association for the Advancement of Science and

Institute for Civil Society (AAAS). 26 September 2005.

http://www.aaas.org/spp/sfrl/projects/stem/report.pdf

MONITERING STEM CELL RESEARCH: A Report of The Presidents Council on

Bioethics. Document. Washington, D.C. January 2004

Parson, Ann B. The Proteus Effect: Stem Cells and their Promise for

Medicine. Washington, D. C.: Joseph Henry Press. 2004

Stem Cell Information. The National Institute of Health (NIH). 22 September 2005

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/scireport/chapter1.asp

Roman Catholic Church of South Korea to Fund Adult Stem Cell Research

Roman Catholic Church of South Korea to Fund Adult Stem Cell Research

According to an Associated Press article reprinted on inq7.net, the online site of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Roman Catholic Church in South Korea will provide funding for research on adult stem cells. The Church’s aim is to end embryonic stem cell research. The Archdiocese of Seoul will provide 10 billion won, or approximately $9.6 million USD. The money will come largely from church funds but also from private donations.

South Korea is known as one of the nations progressing most rapidly on stem-cell research, in part because researchers there are extensively involved in somatic cell nuclear transfer, commonly called “therapeutic cloning.” In May, Korean scientists used tissue from various donors as sources for transplanted nuclear material into a number of embryonic stem cells and derived 11 new stem cell lines. Previously, the same scientists, working with American researchers, had performed the first human cloning by taking nuclear material from one woman’s cumulus cells (ovarian tissue) and using it to replace the genetic material in one of her eggs. Both studies appeared in the journal Science. They are not available except by subscription or payment, but were summarized by MSNBC on February 12, 2004 and May 20, 2005.

Approximately 45-50 million of South Korea’s 53 million people are Catholic (estimates vary).