Embryonic Stem Cells

By Sarah Jordan

Why? I chose to do my research project on Embryonic stem cells (ESC) because, like most of the topics to choose from, I had no knowledge of what it actually meant. I thought it would be interesting to learn something new by doing this project. I also wanted to be different and didn’t want to do a subject that everybody else was doing.

Embryonic stem cells have the potential to make all cell types in the body.

What?

Embryonic stem cells are stem cells taken from the inner cell mass of an early stage embryo known as a blastocyst. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4-5 days after fertilization, at which time they consist of 50-150 cells.

Embryonic stem cells are a primitive type of cell that can be persuaded into developing into all of the 220 types of cells found in the human body (e.g. blood cells, heart cells, brain cells, nerve cells)

Because of their flexibility and potentially unlimited capacity for self-renewal, Embryonic stem cell therapies have been proposed for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement after injury or disease. However, to date, no approved medical treatments have been resulted from embryonic stem cell research.

• 1981: Embryonic stem cells were first taken from mouse embryos by Martin

Evans and Matthew Kaufman and independently by Gail R. Martin. • 1998-NOV Scientists first announced the isolation of stem cells.• 2001-APR-10: Researchers at UCLA, the University of Pittsburgh and Duke University

isolated stem cells from animal fat that was collected by liposuction. They were able to convert them into bone, cartilage and muscle.

• 2003-MAR-7: Dimitri Bonnville a 16-year-old boy had been accidentally shot in the heart

with a nail gun. During open-heart surgery he suffered a massive heart attack. His only two options were to go on a waiting list for a heart transplant, or try an experimental stem cell procedure. He chose the last option. He has since obtained substantial recovery of cardiac function. The stem cells were harvested from his own blood.

• 2003

Researchers at the Whitehead Institute announced that they had successfully used embryonic stem cells to produce haploid, male gametes. They found embryonic stem cells that had begun to change into embryonic

germ cells and then further into the male haploid cells.

The following are a series of events that helped develop the understanding of embryonic stem cells and acts they are capable of:

Continued…

• Oct. 12, 2005: For the first time, stem cell researchers at the University of Minnesota have

persuaded human embryonic stem cells to create cancer-killing cells in the laboratory, serving the way for future treatments for various types of cancers (or tumors).

• 2006-NOV-10: A joint Anglo-American medical team at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London

has successfully transplanted adult stem cells from the eyes of normal mouse fetuses into the eyes of blind mice. The stem cells developed into mature photoreceptors in the retina and transmitted signals to the brain. Scientists hope that they will eventually be able to use embryonic stem cells from within the person's eye and avoid the problem of tissue rejection

• 2006-NOV-10: A new procedure which extracts adult stem cells from a heart attack

patients bone marrow and injecting them into their heart has been pioneered by British doctors. They hope that the procedure will boost survival rates, reduce repeated hospital admissions and prevent heart failure.

• 2008-FEB-19: Successes achieved by researchers at Stanford University School of

Medicine caused strokes in ten laboratory rats, causing serious disabilities. They then coaxed human embryonic stem cells to develop into neural stem cells which were then transplanted into the rats. The cells migrated to the damaged area of the rats' brains, incorporated themselves into surrounding brain tissue. The cells developed into neurons and two other important types of brain cells.

Useful

Embryonic stem cell research can been useful to mankind because of all the amazing possibilities it shows for remarkable medical procedures such as:

• Restoring human tissue• Testing new drugs• Finding the cause for

birth defects• Reducing donor-host

rejection And for finding a cure for

many diseases such as:• Motor Neurone• Paraplegia • Cancer

Human embryonic stem cell colony

Harmful Embryonic stem cell

research can be harmful to mankind because many believe that human life, in the form of an egg and sperm, becomes a human person at the time of fertilization so killing an embryo in order to extract its stem cells is a form of homicide.

I believe that Embryonic stem cells and the research that they are involved in

are definitely for the best. Having had my grandma sadly pass away from Motor Neurone, living with her

for the last four years of her life and watching her slowly get weaker, I know the terrible symptoms that the sufferers have to go through and what a relief it would be not only to them but to the families as well to know that there will one day be a treatment and cure for this horrible disease if by having to extract Embryonic Stem cells from the embryo will lead to this I believe it is certainly worth it.

Louis Rowe, a 23 year-old man was left paraplegic after severing his spinal cord in a motorbike accident last year, with no feeling, movement or function below his hips. Louis traveled to Dr Shroff in New Delhi and over a course of nine weeks he was injected with twice-daily doses of embryonic stem cells into his arm and spine. Louis is getting the feeling back in his legs and can now stand and shuffle around with the help of calipers to heavily brace his leg.

Dr Shroff has treated more than 500 patients with stem cells from a single embryo taken willingly from an IVF patient.

The stem cells are taken from embryo’s that are specifically grown for IVF patients, they have a choice of what to do with their remaining embryo’s once they become pregnant which are: to donate to others, dispose of correctly or to donate to research. With the chance of one single embryo possibly saving hundreds from pain, suffering and possibly death, I see it as a worthwhile procedure.

This is enough proof to me that embryonic stem cells are a major positive in medical research and will one day make a big difference in the health and wellbeing of others.

I was unsure about how I felt about the use of embryonic stem cells before I began my research due to the fact that I knew nothing about the topic.

The more that I read about it, the more I agreed with the procedure so throughout my time of research I have always agreed with it.

Future I believe that the future of medical

treatment has a lot to do with embryonic stem cells because of there accuracy, diversity and flexibility, there will be cures and an understanding of the cause of certain diseases due to this amazing procedure.

Questions that I asked

myself throughout the

project include:Q. Why was it not legal? A. People thought of it as

murder and thought of it as an unnatural

act.

Q. How will it help illnesses ?A. Embryonic stem cells can

replace any human tissue and can keep growing forever which means it can replace any ruined

tissue in the body.Q. Would I allow Embryonic stemcells to be used in me if I was ill?

A. Yes, I believe that there has been

enough research done to prove to me that it’s worth a try,

and if something goes wrong then

they may be able to use that for later

research to make theProcess better for

Future use.

Bibliographywww.sumanasinc.com

www.wikipedia.com

www.religoustolerance.org

www.iscr.ed.ac.uk

www.sciencedaily.com

www.stmatthewsnj.org

Herald Sun, Friday, May 30, 2008

DVD, Understanding Stem Cells