​StemCells

What if...

 

​... drugs could be tested on human cells rather than animals?

... you could regenerate an arm or leg?

... the blind could get their sight back?

... and many cancers could be cured?

But...

... in some sense, you'd be taking away another potential life form?

 

Is it worth it?

 

 

Stem cells have the unique ability to develop into many different types of specialized cells in our bodies, such as a heart cell, a brain cell, a skin cell, or a red blood cell. They can also serve as a repair system, in which the cell divides through mitosis to replenish damaged cells.

 

There are two types of stem cells:

- Embryonic stem cells - found in the inner mass of cells in a blastocyst (the stage after zygote); undifferentiated and pluripotent*.

- Somatic or Adult stem cells - found in various tissues; already somewhat differentiated and multipotent**.

*Pluripotentcy: able to differentiate into any cell that make up the body

**Multipotentcy: able to differentiate into different cells but not as diverse as pluripotent cells

 

The blastocyst would normally undergo gastrulation after implantation in the wall of the endometrium of the mother's uterus, in which a gastrula is formed, composed of the ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm. However, in obtaining embryonic stem cells for research purposes, the blastocyst is not able to implant itself on the uterine wall, as it has been fertilized via in vitro fertilization. This means that the egg was fertilized in a petri dish to assist in reproduction, in cases of women that are unable to conceive naturally. The stem cells are only extracted if the blastocyst is no longer wanted, as the extraction would lead to the death of the embryo. 

 

The huge potential of stem cells in the advancement of medicine is undeniable. The ability to test pharmaceutical drugs on human cells without harming an actual human being would be a huge step in improving treatment of diseases. Many devastating diseases such as Alzheimer's, cancer, Parkinson's and HIV could potentially be cured with stem cell therapies, albeit with much more extensive research. 

 

Some would argue that the use of stem cells would be equivalent to destroying human life and no benefits would outweigh the immorality of such an action. However, others argue that the blastocyst is too young and undeveloped to be classified as a human. Other risks such has cancer development, bodily rejection, infections and other unknown effects are evident with stem cell research.

 

Would you support or oppose stem cell research?