STEM CELL RESEARCH

Made by: Aya Tarek900 08 1600

Characteristics

Unspecialized

Proliferate (can renew themselves for long periods of time)

Differentiate (make specialized cells)

 How can one cell (a fertilized ovum) turn into an entire human being?

 types of mammalian stem cells :

embryonic stem cells

adult stem cells

 IPSCs (induced pluripotent stem cells)

1- Embryonic stem cells:

Pluripotent: can form any of the other 260 cell types

obtained from the cells of the inner layer of the blastocyst

2- Adult stem cells: 

Multipotent: differentiated and tissue specific but can still make other tissues, but not as versatile as embryonic stem cells.

repair and replenish the tissues of the body

found in adult tissues, but they are rare and hard to isolate

3- IPSCs: 

discovered in 2006

adult cells are "reprogrammed " genetically to act like embryonic stem cells

source of pluripotent stem cells can be created that are an exact match to their donor

Potential uses of stem cells

Potential uses continued

abnormal cell division and differentiation cause cancer and birth defects and other serious medical conditions 

Studying cell division and differentiation may help us understand how they arise and maybe develop treatments

Ethical issues Claim: unethical, because

to obtain embryonic stem cells, an embryo is destroyed

doesn't involve fetuses in the womb involes animals fetal tissues from terminated pregnancies excess embryos from in vitro fertilization Informed consents from donors in both

cases

Religious issues

some religious people think scientific and medical research on fetuses should be forbidden because it is unknown when the soul enters the body 

THANK YOU =)