Stem Cells Matija

Stem Cells

The human body comprises over 200 different cell types that are organized into tissues and organs to provide all the functions required for viability and reproduction. One of these cells in the human body are called stem cells. Now one might ask, "what are stem cells?" Stem cells are multicellular organisms (undifferentiated) which are capable of changing into and arising other cells. More specifically, as news medical describes it as; “Stem cells are mother cells that have the potential to become any type of cell in the body.” (http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-are-Stem-Cells.aspx) Through early life, and growth stem cells are transformed and changed into many different cell types. This is because they serve as an internal repair system to countless of tissues inside the human body, dividing without any specific limit until they restore the other cells that were harmed or missing in that certain part of the body. Stem cells are very important, for as I mentioned above they can replenish certain organs, however they can also produce all the different cell types that make up our blood. Meaning that it can fight off unwanted diseases, through the use of blood transplants, restoring the diseased filled blood and returning to its normal state. Blood transplant is the most common use of therapeutic use of stem cells, more than 26,000 patients are treated with blood stem cells in Europe each year. Stem cells differ from other cells types because of two important characteristics; Firstly they are unspecialized cells and have the ability to renew themselves through cell division. Cell division is the process in which distribution of identical genetic material, DNA, splits into two cells, meaning that one cells splits identically into two whole cells.  You can see this clearly in the picture bellow.

Secondly, if needed they can be under experimental or physiologic conditions, where they are then stimulated to become tissue, organs, or any other specific cell with special functions. However stimulation cannot happen alone, to get the stimulation of the stem cells to change into a specific function a transplant has to occur. Although in some organs, such as the gut and bone marrow, stem cells regularly divide to repair. In other organs, however, such as the pancreas and the heart, stem cells only divide under special conditions. These are the two types of characteristics drawn simply to illustrate what I have stated

There are also two types of stem cells. The first one being embryonic stem cells (seen in the first picture): which are cells that developed from the embryo, mostly fertilized embryo cells. And second, adult stem, also known as Non embryonic stem cells (seen in second picture): are undifferentiated cells that multiply cell division.               

 Embryonic stem cells

 Adult stem cells

Due to their great regenerative qualities, stem cells are widely used for therapeutic purposes in order to cure and treat incurable diseases. One of therapeutic purposes of stem cells is to treat Parkston’s disease. This pluripotent, endlessly dividing cell has been hailed not only as a possible means for treating Parkinson's disease but also, diabetes, Alzheimer's, spinal cord injury, heart failure, and bone marrow failure. However, here we are focusing on the treatment of Parkinson’s through the use of stem cells. Parkinson’s disease is a lack of dopamine “– a chemical that allows messages to be sent to the parts of the brain that control movement and some forms of thinking.”  (http://www.eurostemcell.org)  The disease targets and kills dopamine-producing nerve cells, or neurons, in part of the brain called the substantia nigari, even though this disease does attack and affect other nerve cells in the brain, which may be used for some other tasks such as problems with sleep, motivation, thinking, etc. Although the main variable to the cause of Parkinson’s disease is still unknown, scientists do know which cells and areas of the brain get harmed. Researchers are already using stem cell to grow dopamine-producing nerve cells in a laboratory so that they can isolated and focus on the disease,  especially in cases where Parkinson’s is passed on through a known genetic cause.  Researchers are trying to figure out if there is a possibility of treating Parkinson’s by replacing a lost nerve cell with a healthy new one.

However, it goes without saying that stem cell research has been very controversial. There have been several ethic concerns and problems that follow this topic. Professional consent is needed to be written down and signed by all participants who are involved in any stem cell transplant.  As mentioned, embryonic stem cells are a major part in treating many stem cell related procedurs, and because of that, a lot of research has made the extracting of embryonic stem cells mandatory. However, in order to extract embryonic stem cells, the fertilized egg cell, which at this stage of growth is called blastocyst, has to be destroyed after 5-7 days of life. This is by many considered to be murder of a young living organism, which will later become a fetus. Religion also plays a big part in this controversial topic, because many believe that a blastocyst is still considered to be a human, since life begins at conception. Of course the other side of the coins states that this would not be considered to be living because it didn’t get to experience anything that makes us, living. Such as emotions, pain, memory and so on. This topic will continue to be a very controversial one, but people will need to see if the pros out weight the cons, since stem cell therapy is still one of the most effective ways to treat incurable diseases.