A stem cell is a multicellular organism which is capable of giving rise to more cells of the same type, from this some other kinds of cells arise by differentiation.
A new animal life is formed when a sperm fertilizes an egg cell to produce a zygote.When a zygote divides into two cells and embryo is formed. The two celled embryo divides to form a four cell embryo then eight, sixteen,etc. During these early stages cells divide to form a large amount of tissue. They are extremely versatile and can differentiate at different pathways into any of the cell types found in that particular animal. In the 19th century, the name of the zygote and cells of the early embryo was stem cell which meant that all tissues of the adult stem was form them.
Stem cells can be used to regenerate tissue, for example skin for people that suffer from burns-
skin stem cells. Stem cells could provide means of healing disorders.As well, it could be used to treat children with cancerous blood disorders such as leukaemia, blood diseases like Faconi anaemia.
Cord blood stem cells are harvested from the umbilical cord of the baby after birth and these cells can be frozen in cell banks which make the treatments for specific problems, which are listed above, possible and curable. For bone marrow
mesenchymal stem cells regenerate tissue. Stem cells help repair type 1 diabetes where a particular cell type has been grown or it is malfunctioning (
Biology Course Companion Oxford pg. 13). It can also repair the cornea in the eye. Stem cells could also repair
spinal cord injuries, autism, cerebral palsy, heart faliure, osteoarthiritis, etc.
The embryo gets destroyed during the process of cell derivation. According to some people it is unethical to technically destroy life because it is in a way disrespecting because it is given a status for the
"human embryo to have the same moral status as a human being that has been born".
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