EDEXCEL- BIOLOGY- IAL

Stem cells are the body’s natural reservoir – replenishing stocks of specialized cells that have
been used up or damaged . We need to make new cells all the time, just to keep our body
functioning. Some specialized cells, such as blood and muscle cells, are unable to make copies of
themselves through cell division. Instead they are replenished from populations of stem cells.

Stem cells have the unique ability to produce both copies of themselves (self-renewal) and other
more specialized cell types (differentiation) every time they divide. Stem cells, therefore, are
essential to the maintenance of tissues such as blood, skin, and gut that undergo continuous
turnover (cell replacement), and muscle, which can be built up according to the body's needs and
is often damaged during physical exertion.

Stem cell therapy

Scientist discovered that stem cells could be used to treat certain diseases and human tissue
damages by the stem cells. But some of the early treatments did result in patient being cured of
one condition, then it developed cancers.

The years long researches based on adult stem and embryonic stem cells harvested the new
treatments for different human diseases. Much of the early work carried out by scientists on stem
cells used the stem cells from embryos. The use of stem cells derived from embryos to develop
new medical treatments has raised both practical and ethical difficulties.

Stem cell transplant: In stem cell transplants, stem cells replace cells damaged by

chemotherapy or disease or serve as a way for the donor's immune system to fight some
types of cancer and blood-related diseases, such as leukemia, lymphoma, neuroblastoma and
multiple myeloma. These transplants use adult stem cells or umbilical cord blood.

The bone marrow stem cells that can generate bone, fat, cartilage and fibrous tissue. The
brain stem cell can form the three main types of brain cells. These cells could be
extracted from a patient and treated so that they develop into the new cells that the patient
needs.

Adult stem are used in the repair of hearts damaged by heart attacks. Adult stem cells are
injected into the heart and the improvement was a success.

Some studies used adult stem cells from the bone marrow taken from the patient and
injects his heart to repair of hearts damaged by heart attacks. Using patient’s own stem
cells avoid the risk of tissue rejection.
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Application and uses of stem cells

Therapeutic cloninig

The production of embryonic stem cells for use in replacing or repairing damaged tissues
or organs, achieved by transferring a diploid nucleus from a body cell into an zygote
whose nucleus has been removed. The stem cells are harvested from the blastocyst that
develops from the egg, which, if implanted into a uterus, could produce a clone of the
nucleus donor.

Somatic cell cloning or therapeutic cloning is one of the main ways in which scientists
are using stem cells to develop the medical therapies. It is hoped that it could be used to
treat people with diseases caused by faulty cells, such as type 1 diabetes or Alzheimer’s
disease.

Stem cells may help us understand how a complex organism develops from a
fertilised egg: In the laboratory, scientists can follow stem cells as they divide and
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become increasingly specialized, making skin, bone, brain, and other cell types.
Identifying the signals and mechanisms that determine whether a stem cell chooses to
carry on replicating itself or differentiate into a specialized cell type, and into which cell
type, will help us understand what controls normal development.

For stem cell research: Some of the most serious medical conditions, such as cancer and
birth defects, are due to abnormal cell division and differentiation. A better understanding
of the genetic and molecular controls of these processes may yield information about how
such diseases arise and suggest new strategies for therapy. This is an important goal of
stem cell research.

Stem cells could be used to study disease and treat them too:

Stem cells have the ability to replace damaged cells and treat disease. This property is
already used in the treatment of extensive burns, and to restore the blood system in patients
with leukaemia and other blood disorders.

Stem cells may also hold the key to replacing cells lost in many other devastating
diseases for which there are currently no sustainable cures. Today, donated tissues
and organs are often used to replace damaged tissue, but the need for transplantable
tissues and organs far outweighs the available supply. Stem cells, if they can be
directed to differentiate into specific cell types, offer the possibility of a renewable
source of replacement cells and tissues to treat diseases including Parkinson's, stroke,
heart disease and diabetes. This prospect is an exciting one, but significant technical
hurdles remain that will only be overcome through years of intensive research.

In many cases it is difficult to obtain the cells that are damaged in a disease, and to study them in
detail. Stem cells, either carrying the disease gene or engineered to contain disease genes, offer a
viable alternative. Scientists could use stem cells to model disease processes in the laboratory,
and better understand what goes wrong.

Stem cells could provide a resource for testing new medical treatments

New medications could be tested for safety on specialized cells generated in large numbers from
stem cell lines – reducing the need for animal testing. Other kinds of cell lines are already used
in this way. Cancer cell lines, for example, are used to screen potential anti-tumour drugs.
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 Potential benefits of stem cell research are numerous and range from development and testing of
new drugs to cell-based therapies in which stem cells are used to replace ailing or destroyed
tissue or cells.

Carrying out researches , treatments and studies on the basis of stem cells are not possible as
easy as we are learning about them. There are many pitfalls as well as benefits of stem cell
therapy.

Pitfalls of stem cell therapy

Embryonic stem cells are taken from early stages of human embryo. All human life is
sacred at what level or stage of development, and no human life of this sort should be
taken in these circumstances.
It is an important overriding principle for some people( naturalist ) that humans
should not tamper with ‘nature’ in a deliberate way. ( changing genome, creating new
organisms and creating new plants).
All researches are trial and error. Stem cell research is a costly technology, mostly
beneficial to the lives of a very limited number of people of developed nation,
whereas if much of the funds used were to be diverted to solve more basic problems
of heath and nutrition( clean water supply, effective contraception) of the poor
worldwide and to many the less developed countries, the money would benefit vastly
more humans.
Treatments associated with stem cell therapy are new way to the society. Society has
to rely on the scientific knowledge presented to it to make decisions about the use of
stem cells .
There are also risks associated with stem cell therapy. There are conderns that stem
cells could cause the development of cancers in the body. There is some evidence that
people who have been given bone marrow stem cells transplants to help them
overcome leukaemia are at high risk of developing other cancers later.

Potential benefits of stem cell therapy

Stem cell technology is unique in that it possesses both diagnostic and therapeutic potential.

Regenerative therapy provide the new transplant background for medical history. There
are many crucial conditions that medicine or other kind of surgeries can do. But stem cell
therapy has a solution for that. Replacing damaged cells, eliminate some diseases and
generating new parts in organs are done by stem cells are a revolution of medical history.
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As an example: the cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the
industrialized world. Therefore, there is a particular interest in cardiovascular regenerative
therapies. The potential of diverse progenitor cells to repair damaged heart tissue includes
replacement (tissue transplant) and restoration .
Dental stem cells could potentially repair damaged tooth tissues such as dentin, periodontal
ligament, and dental pulp
Another advantage is using stem cell therapy, it is avoided the transplant rejection.
Generally organ transplant is lethal if the immune system attacks a transplant organ. After
a organ transplant, people have to depend on immunosuppressant drugs the rest of their
live, and this put them at higher risk of infection diseases. But transplant by stem cell
therapy it could avoid the risk of rejection.

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS) iPSC are derived from skin or blood cells that have been
reprogrammed back into an embryonic-like pluripotent state that enables the development of an
unlimited source of any type of human cell needed for therapeutic purposes.
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The induced pluripotent human stem cells are very similar to embryonic stem cells in
their behavior but not identical.
There is no ethical objections is a potential benefit of this new technology.
Induced pluripotent stem cells are extracted from the patient who need the therapy.
Therefore, no risk of rejection of the tissue if the cells from an individual are used to
provide their own stem cells.
But there is tendency to become cancerous very quickly.

The primary advantages of iPSCs compared to other stem cells are: a) iPSCs can be

created from the tissue of the same patient that will receive the transplantation, thus
avoiding immune rejection, and b) the lack of ethical implications because cells are
harvested from a willing adult without harming them.

Stem cell therapy is used for wide range of diseases in regenerative medicine.
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Parkinson’s disease is an old age related brain disorder. The nerve cells in the brain that produces
dopamine stop working and the dopamine level falls, people develop an uncontrollable tremor in
their hands and body. Finally the body becomes rigid and cannot move normally. But there is no
permanent cure with medicinal drugs. By restoring dopamine neurons , it replace the dopamine
production . This condition can be eliminated by pluripotent stem cell implanting to maintain the
dopamine level .

Type 1 diabetes develops at the early childhood as the glucose –sensitive, insulin secreting cells
from the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas are destroyed or stop making insulin. Thus, people
who are affected by type 1 diabetes will have to depend on regular injecting insulin. Stem cell
therapy could give them working pancreas cells again by restoring the production of insulin and
ability to control of blood glucose level.

Nerves do not regrow once they are damaged by a major injury to them. The damage to the spine
may be permanently paralyzed the below the damaged location. By transplanting the stem cells
of adult stem cell , such fatal conditions can be eliminated.

Hearts, liver , kidney and many other organs can be replaced by stem cell therapy. Due to
rejection of donor organ by recipients , stem cell therapy restore them re-functioning. Pluripotent
stem cell will provide enough organ regeneration to replace the damaged organs.

Stem cells have tremendous promise to help us understand and treat a range of diseases, injuries
and other health-related conditions. Their potential is evident in the use of blood stem cells to
treat diseases of the blood, a therapy that has saved the lives of thousands of children with
leukemia; and can be seen in the use of stem cells for tissue grafts to treat diseases or injury to
the bone, skin and surface of the eye. Important clinical trials involving stem cells are underway
for many other conditions and researchers continue to explore new avenues using stem cells in
medicine.
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Ethical questions about stem cell applications

Many who oppose embryonic stem cell research believe for religious or other personal reasons
that all pre implantation embryos have a moral standing equal to living persons.  On the other
hand, those who support embryonic stem cell research point out that not all religious traditions
grant full moral standing to early-stage human embryos.

Embryonic stem cells offer hope for new therapies, but their use in research has been hotly
debated. Different countries have chosen to regulate embryonic stem cell research in very
different ways. Mention embryonic stem cells in the public and the topic still divides opinion.

The four ethical principles are as follows.

Respect for autonomy: The main ethical objections are to human embryonic stem cell research,
because early-stage human embryos are destroyed during the process of deriving their stem cells.

It arises the issue about performing researches. This means respect for individuals, by not
performing reaseach procedures without consent. The reprogramming of somatic cells to produce
induced pluripotent stem cells avoids the ethical problems specific to embryonic stem cell
research. These ethical and policy issues need to be discussed along with scientific challenges to
ensure that stem cell research is carried out in an ethically appropriate manner.

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, created by reprogramming human somatic cells (cells other
than eggs, sperm, or embryos), represents a new kind of stem cell research which doesn’t involve
use of human embryos.

Beneficence: The aim of stem cells is providing proper treatment for particular conditions of
serieous health isssues. Stem cell research offers great promise for understanding basic
mechanisms of human development and differentiation, as well as the hope for new treatments
for diseases such as diabetes, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease, and myocardial infarction.

Non-malificence : The aim of the stem cell therapy is not be based on harming others.

Justice : Everyone should be treated with sharing resources fairy to avoid discriminations.
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Ethical issues on therapeutic cloninig.

Pluripotent stem cells are produced in therapeutic cloning and public has fear that researches
may produce cloned babies in such a way. Most of religious and ethical issues explains that the
multiplying pluripoent stem cells are against the religious and social conducts.

Ips cells : Induced pluripotent cells has limited differenciation but still the society look at stem
cell therapy in a suspious way.

Pros and Cons ( positive and negative arguments) of Using Various

Stem Cells
 Abundant somatic cells of donor can be used
 Issues of histocompatibility with donor/recipient transplants can be avoided
 Very useful for drug development and developmental studies

Pros
  Adult Stem Cells Embryonic Stem Cells   Induced Pluripotent Stem
Cells
 Trans differentiate and  Can maintain and grow  Abundant somatic cells
and reprogramming of for 1 year or more in of donor can be used
these cells culture  Issues of
is possible but is not histocompatibility with
well studied donor/recipient
transplants can be
avoided

 Thought to be less  Established protocols

likely to be rejected if for maintenance in
used in transplants culture

Success has already been  ESCs are pluripotent  Very useful for drug
demonstrated in various cells that can generate development and
clinical applications most cell types developmental studies

 By studying ESCs,  Information learned

more can be learned from the
about the process of “reprogramming”
development process may be
transferable for in
vivo therapies to
reprogram damaged or
diseased cells/tissues
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  Adult Stem Cells Embryonic Stem Cells   Induced Pluripotent Stem

Cells
 Cons  Limitations on  Process to generate  Methods for ensured
ASC ability to ESC lines is reproducibility and
differentiate are inefficient maintenance, as
still uncertain; differentiated tissues
currently thought are not certain.
to be multi or
unipotent.

 Cannot be grown  Unsure whether  Viruses are currently

for long periods of they would be used to introduce
time in culture rejected if used in embryonic genes
transplants. and has been shown
 Usually a very to cause cancers in
small number in  Therapies using mouse studies  
each tissue making ESC avenues are
them difficult to largely new and
find and purify much more
research and
testing is needed
 Currently there is  If used directly
no technology from the ESC
available to undifferentiated
generate large culture prep for
quantities of stem tissue transplants,
cells in culture they can cause
tumors (teratomas)
or cancer
development  
Ethical    No major ethical  To acquire the   iPS cells have the
Concer concerns have inner cell mass the potential to become
ns been raised embryo is embryos if exposed
destroyed to the right
conditions
 Risk to female
donors being
consented
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The Advantages and Disadvantages of Stem Cell Research

Stem cell research holds tremendous promise for medical treatments, however,
there are downsides.
Advantages

Stem cell research offers countless medical possibilities. After all, the cells are undifferentiated;
this means that they can be used to treat various conditions.

For example, researchers may be able to treat diabetes by turning stem cells into insulin-
producing cells. Other conditions that may benefit from such therapies include spinal injuries,
stroke, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease.
Another benefit is that it can help progress cancer research. How? Embryonic stem cells are
similar to cancer cells in that they can reproduce themselves indefinitely.

By studying them, researchers may be able to develop treatments that are more effective against
cancer cells.
Disadvantages

The main disadvantage of stem cell research has to do with the way that they're acquired-that is,
it involves the destruction of human embryos. This makes it immoral for those who believe that
life begins at contraception.
Another drawback is that we currently do not have a complete understanding of how embryonic
stem cells work. For example, there might be long-term health effects that we're not yet aware of.

Last but not least, transplanted stem cells can have high rejection rates. After all, they're derived
from foreign embryos. In other words, therapy may not always be successful.