Pham Dinh Vien

As it is easy to understand from their name, embryonic stem cells come from embryos. They are extracted from microscopic balls of cells that represent the initial stage of embryo formation. The main source is from eggs fertilized in vitro and don’t get transferred to a woman’s womb. Such biological material can be disposed of for research purposes only with the consent of the rightful owner. It is also possible to grow embryonic stem cells in the laboratory in what is known as cell culture. All sorts of difficulties and challenges appear in the artificial creation of embryonic stem cells, and many experts often talk about the inefficiency of an embryonic cell line.

Passing through all sorts of stages of cultures and subcultures, embryonic stem cells proliferate over more than six months while preserving their undifferentiated status. Specialists talk of an embryonic stem cell line, when all the cells have proliferated in the culture while remaining unspecialized and genetically normal. Further experimentation can be carried on from such stages in other facilities, but only after freezing the cell batches. How are embryonic stem cells identified? Although tests are conducted both on animal and human embryonic stem cells, the characterization procedure cannot be limited to a standard group of tests for the measuring of the fundamental features of human cell groups.

Normal microscopic analysis is usually sufficient to determine whether the embryonic stem cells preserve the long term growth and self-renewal properties. Further investigations concern the presence of specific proteins that are normally produced by unspecialized or undifferentiated cells. The analysis of the chromosomes is equally important to reveal the genetic health of the embryonic stem cells. There is no other form in fact to detect genetic mutations in the cells and establish whether the evolution is normal or not. Thus, very complex operations are involved in the regular lab procedure specific to the growth of embryonic stem cells.

The possibility to use embryonic stem cells for the regeneration of organs or body tissues comes from the scientific possibility to manipulate the biological material and make the cells differentiate according to the needs. Thus, the chemical composition of the culture medium, the insertion of special genes and the alteration of the culture dish represent methods of controlling and triggering the differentiation. For the moment, research is still in progress and results are still not conclusive enough to allow the transplant of artificially grown cells into the human body for the treatment of various diseases but the future seems to be bright in this direction.

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Stem cell therapy relies on the use of cells that have not received a function in the body yet and which have a large if not unlimited potential of regeneration and evolution into cells with specialized tasks. The transformation of stem cells into body functional cells is known as specialization or differentiation, and it represents the main characteristic on which all stem cell therapy is based. Most of the time, stem cell transplantation serves for regenerative medicine in the case of patients with serious injuries that have impaired their body motion and functions. Just think of people who suffer from spinal cord injury!

In 2004, a great success case marked the evolution of stem cell therapy when a team of Korean researchers used stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood and treated a patient who was immobilized because of a spinal cord injury. Presently, the woman has no difficulties walking, after a nineteen-year period during which she was not able to move. This stem cell therapy simply consisted in the injecting of stem cells into the injured spinal cord portion. Another major treatment in this medical domain is that of heart diseases. People worldwide can use such experimental medicine to treat their heart problems, but surely, they should also afford the intervention.

The blood cells formation is another territory conquered by stem cell therapy. Many types of cancer destroy the quality of the vital fluid and cause a collapse in the entire system. Moreover, the chemotherapy drugs used in the treatment of tumors further destroy the rapidly regenerating blood cells. The use of stem cell therapy for the improvement of the blood condition is one of the first successes reputed by stem cell research and medicine. The most common procedure involved is the bone marrow transplant from a donor to a patient.

Although the applications of stem cell therapy extend to pretty much any injury, damage or disease that affects the human body, we’ll only mention one other treatment possibility considered pretty revolutionary. Stem cells could be the solution for hair loss or baldness because they can take over the function of the cells in the hair follicles that for some reason have failed to regenerate from a certain moment onwards. This stem cell therapy consist in the collection of stem cells from healthy hair follicles, their growth in cultures, followed by the implantation once there are enough new follicles. Similar applications are available with various other treatments depending on the injury.

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The constant blood crisis and the low number of donors that many medical units complain about could be solved if scientists manage to come up with a method of creating blood out of human stem cells. Trials and experiments have been made at various universities worldwide, and so far, scientists have managed to come up with a kind of immature stem cell blood. Research is in the early stages and the blood cells obtained by such means may never be adequate to substitute blood donation. Another issue here is the sterility of the so-called artificial stem cell blood that would be totally free of diseases.

The fact that one day mankind could produce blood in laboratories seems quite distant and unlikely in some people’s opinion. So far, only speculations can be made in relation to stem cell blood because experts cannot say whether their research will prove an incremental step forward or just another project without perspective or clear safe finality. Therefore, not only for the present, but for many more years to come, blood donation remains the quickest and easiest solution for use in medical units. Stem cell blood formation is financed in several laboratories worldwide, and the problem of funding is not an issue just yet. There is enough money to continue research!

Another aspect worth considering in relation to stem cell blood is not the artificial production of this vital human fluid, but the collection of the umbilical cord blood that is very rich in stem cells. The practice has become pretty extensive and more and more parents are convinced that by storing their baby’s stem cells, they insure a future treatment in the eventuality of an irrecoverable illness. The main criticism is directed against private stem cell blood banks that collect and store umbilical blood samples for lucrative purposes, pretending that these cells will be enough to cure a very serious disease.

The fact is that no one can guarantee a treatment that is still in the experimental stages. Yes, the potential provided by the rich umbilical stem cell blood could be infinite, but research has not reached final conclusions. You may be paying a lot of money for the storage of the stem cells and in fact there is a chance that they won’t prove useful when it comes to be implemented for treatment. The controversy is far from being over, and stem cell blood remains a major issue and pivotal element related to stem cell research conducted all over the world.

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A huge controversy touches upon stem cell research because of the way embryos are created, used and destructed for study purposes alone. The main interest in stem cell research comes from the possibility to develop treatments and cures for the irrecoverable diseases that plague humanity such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, Parkinson’s, heart attacks and so on. Yet, lots of people who argue against stem cell research don’t really know that there are many processes and lab tests that work with stem cells without causing any harm to human embryos. Adult stem cells for instance represent a good biological material to work on, although with a lower potential then embryonic stem cells.

Unlike adult stem cells, embryonic stem groups can develop into absolutely any type of cells specific to the body. Moreover, stem cell research points out that embryonic material is more suitable and useful for nervous system therapies. There are bad bits to embryonic stem cells as well because very often they are rejected by the immune system. This is actually the trap that many parents are not aware of when storing stem cells from the umbilical cord blood in banks as an insurance policy for the future health of their child.

The truth is that stem cell research has more to do before real treatments can be performed in full safety and knowledge of the outcome. The only type of stem cell transplant that is no longer an issue or secret for the medical world is bone marrow transplantation, that has been practiced for almost fifty years now with great success. Other than this case, stem cell research cannot so far boast with the development of therapies that have a support in the treatment of human health problems. For the moment, stem cell research tries to find alternative sources for cells, other than embryos.

It was in 2007 that the Advanced Cell Technology Institute announced the creation of three stem cell lines that were produced without the destruction of the parenting embryos. Such results of stem cell research have been unique so far in the world, but more novelties seem to change the evolution of experimental medicine. In the same year, 2007, it was discovered that the amniotic fluid in which the fetus grows in the womb contains stem cells that can differentiate and develop into bones, blood vessels, muscles, nerves and organs. This new tissue resource could increase the chances of developing ways to repair injured or malfunctioning organs.

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Due to the great medical potential discovered in stem cells, many therapies rely on their use for the treatment of various diseases and injuries. In many experts’ opinion, stem cell cures have the huge potential of stopping devastating illnesses that claim people’s life after intense suffering. The mechanism on which the use of stem cell cures relies, is the possibility of these cells to differentiate and develop into cells with specific functions adequate for a certain tissue or organ. This means that if injected or placed in a damaged tissue, they will regenerate it without any threat for the patient’s health.

Although limited in number and extent, for the moment, stem cell cures do exist. With the exception of bone marrow transplantation that is common and widely practiced, the rest of the stem cell treatments are experimental and very expensive. Scientists are now trying to develop stem cell cures for cancer, Alzheimer’s, cardiac failure, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, muscle damage and lots of others. This means that the stem cell cures can be used both for curative and regenerative therapies. How does tissue regeneration function? Well, in order to eliminate the appearance of a scar, stem cells have to be implanted in the wound where they will start to differentiate.

Stem cell cures have been developed from the umbilical cord blood and they are generally used in the treatment of blood cancer such as leukemia or lymphoma. The traditional cancer treatment based on chemotherapy destroys the blood formating cells in the bone marrow. Without a stem cells transplant the recovery is very difficult or even impossible. All one needs under the circumstances is a matched donor to take the stem cells from and transplant them into the patient’s spine to stimulate the blood formation process. Other than this bone marrow transplant, the rest of the stem cell cures represent only potential treatments.

Stem cell cures could become available in the treatment of brain damage after stroke episodes. It seems that a stimulation of the brain stem cells in the direction of accelerated division and thus an increase in the differentiation of newly formed cells could be enough for the recovery of adult patients with head injuries. Experiments on animals have also demonstrated that stem cell cures may be the answer to all sorts of tumors. Most of the cancer treatments are designed to destroy the malignant cells, but new researches based on stem cell studies give hopes that the development of the tumor could be prevented in the first place.

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A stem cell transplant is a medical procedure consisting of the transfer of stem cells into the system of a cancer patient who is undergoing chemotherapy. The thing is that the powerful chemo-drugs used for reducing tumors also destroy the cells responsible for blood regeneration. Therefore, depending on the intensity of the cancer treatment and the chemotherapy cycles, doctors often recommend and perform a periodical stem cell transplant. Not any patient will qualify for this kind of therapy or even need it. But the course of action is usually established by one doctor or a team of experts after analyzing the patient’s condition, the chemotherapy sessions and the responsiveness to the treatment.

The use of a donor or the collection of individual stem cells is one main issue to consider once the necessity of a stem cell transplant has been established. The collection procedure for individual transfers will only be possible prior to the administration of the chemotherapy high-dose treatment. Then, the stem cells will be frozen and stored until used. In case a donor is needed, then the collection of the stem cells is performed just prior to the intervention. It is preferred to undergo a stem cell transplant from a donor because when using the patient’s cells, there is the risk of a reaction from the immune system.

While in the past, the stem cell transplant could only be performed by using tissue samples from the bone marrow, things have changed in the meantime. The problem with this kind of intervention is the pain and discomfort that accompany the procedure. Yet, medical advancement has made it possible to extract the stem cells necessary for the stem cell transplant from the patient’s or donor’s peripheral blood. It is true that for the moment, bone marrow transplants are more used or common, but the one relying on peripheral blood is gaining territory and will impose itself eventually.

The stem cell transplant could also rely on umbilical cord blood, but this is by far a less usual procedure, because the number of stem cells that can be extracted from the umbilical cord is pretty reduced. Recent discoveries have also confirmed the possibility of combining umbilical cord stem cells from several sources so that a treatment compatible with a patient’s condition may be created. And last but not least, an even more unusual and rare case of stem cell transplant is that from an identical twin, in which case the compatibility is expected to be very high.

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Chemotherapy as a cancer treatment destroys the blood generating cells in the bone marrow, which is why transplants are often necessary in order to increase the life expectation of patients treated for tumors. Stem cell transplantation seems to be the right support for chemotherapy, and so far, thousands of people have benefited from the regenerative advantages of such transplant therapy. There are several steps that need to be taken before the stem cell transplants are possible: a donor has to be looked for, but in the absence of compatibility the patient’s own cells may be used. After collection, they will be frozen and stored until the intervention.

The stem cell transplants are injected into the patient’s bloodstream and they thus reach the bone marrow where they start producing blood cells. There are several cycles of stem cell transplants that need to be performed depending on the cycles of the chemotherapy treatment. How can stem cells contribute to blood formation? Well, these remarkable biological cellular formations can generate the three types of blood cells such as the red blood cells, the white blood cells and the platelets. The red cells transport the oxygen through the body, the white cells fight against bacteria acting as body defenses and the platelets control blood clotting and bleeding.

Although stem cell transplants seem like a separate therapy, it is worth mentioning the fact that the blood and the bone marrow normally contain stem cells, but these get destroyed in cancer patients because of chemotherapy. The stem cell transplants thus become the way to restoring the production of blood cells that would otherwise cease in the absence of the undifferentiated cells. Not all the cancer patients require stem cell transplants. In fact, there are several elements that decide whether such an intervention is necessary or not, and here we can count the stage of the disease, its intensity, the patient’s responsiveness to the treatment and the overall physical condition.

In the past, only younger patients were chosen for stem cell transplants, but at present, age is no longer such a relevant criterion. What does indeed matter is the health of the internal organs such as kidneys, heart and lungs as well as the performance status in the cancer therapy. There are several kinds of stem cell transplants but only a few of them have reached a notorious status. And these include bone marrow transplants, peripheral stem cell blood transplants or cord blood transplants. There are other more scientific ways of separating stem cell transplants into further categories but they usually serve more for research purposes.

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The concept of stem cells is more and more widely debated outside the medical circles where it started from. Stem cells are unspecialized cells that have the extraordinary capacity to develop into any kind of specialized cells necessary in the body, not to mention the fact that they have the capacity to renew themselves through division over and over again, even after being inactive for a long period of time. Thus, stem cells can contribute to internal organ repair or to the regrowth of damaged tissues, and the most daring research attempts are in the domain of red blood cells or nervous cell regeneration.

Scientific medical success has been reported for the repair and replacement of damaged cells in the bone marrow, but so far, stem cells have been only partly able to divide in the heart or the pancreas. There are two types of stem cells used in scientific research and medical applications: embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. The studies with the embryonic ones date back to the early 80s when mouse embryos allowed for superior biological research. These first investigations made it possible for scientists to discover methods of deriving stem cells from human embryos at the end of the 20th century and then grow them in laboratories.

Although a controversial issue, the use of the human embryonic stem cells in lab tests are considered by some people the only way to push medical science forward. Most of the studies are conducted on embryos created as part of infertility programs adjacent to in vitro fertilization techniques. The embryos that are no longer needed for implantation in the uterus, can be passed to laboratory studies if the donor gives his/her consent. A new stage in the research of stem cells was marked in 2006 when scientists discovered a method of reprogramming certain adult cells to behave like stem cells.

The main moral concern is that of harming embryos, that are considered alive in spirit and not only in the physical form alone. While banned by president Bush in the United States, studies have once again been given the green light by the new American president Barrack Obama. On the other hand, the importance of stem cells is overwhelming if we consider what huge opportunities it opens for the treatment of diseases such as diabetes, leukemia, Parkinson’s disease and so on. However, the medical world is just taking the first steps towards understanding how regenerative and reparative medicine could work with the help of cell-based therapies.

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Human stem cells represent cellular formations that have not assumed a body function yet; they are present in embryonic tissues when the body is developing, and new groups of specialized cells are necessary, but they have also been identified in mature adult tissues. It seems that the recovery from disease, injury or decay is only possible thanks to the human stem cells that remain inactive until the time comes to regenerate tissues. Human stem cells now represent the medical hope for the treatment of irrecoverable diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, cancer, strokes, diabetes or heart attacks. And if science makes enough progress such achievements will be possible.

Most of the research conducted on human stem cells has used biological material taken from human embryos that would get killed in the process. Since this practice caused lots of controversies and debates, it was banned for almost eight years in the United States. Presently, efforts are being made to develop a technique that would allow skin cells to be converted into induced pluripotent stem cells instead of the embryonic ones. At the moment, opinions and views remain biased, as many people tend to see a real human person in the fertilized encounter between an ovum and a spermatozoon.

Adult human stem cells are not subject to controversy but they are definitely limited in terms of research capacities. In the mature form, stem cells can only develop into certain types of cells with specific functions, and therefore, the potential is not unlimited as it seems to be the case with embryonic human stem cells. The choice could be pretty difficult if we consider the ethical point of view: how moral is it to stop the physiological evolution into a human being for the sake of science? And on the other hand, human stem cells could help to the creation of a panacea.

Although in tests, human stem cells perform well and make great promises, the clinical programs are far from being over. There are still lots of mysteries to unravel and things to understand. For instance, the origin of the adult human stem cells is not known at the moment, and, while things seem to be clear in relation with the embryonic cultures, not the same thing can be said about adult stem cell studies. Such an example is not at all singular, as there are many other blank spaces that science needs to fill before discovering the cure for all diseases and the fountain of youth.

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Embryonic stem cell research has revealed the different potential in embryonic and adult stem cells. The number of limitations in terms of curative therapeutic applications is higher in the case of adult stem cells that cannot develop into a too large number of tissues. Moreover, the adult types are very rare, isolated and hard to get from tissues, not to mention that they present huge challenges to growing in cultures. Therefore, the highest emphasis falls on embryonic stem cell research, and this is where most medical hopes lie. The difficulty that scientists face is that of the transplant rejection, and this is in fact the reason why for many years the first phase of clinical testing has been postponed.

During the Bush administration, all American embryonic stem cell research was banned. The end of this bare period came in March 2009 when the new American president lifted the ban and allowed the research processes to be reinitialized. Scientists don’t know what to expect from embryonic stem cell research in terms of future promises because the full potential or the eventual risks are not known. Apparently, it is in such futuristic remedies that the cure for the most devastating diseases may be found. The hope that one immobilized to a wheelchair could grow spinal cord back and restart walking is a miracle that science may turn true.

Embryonic stem cell research still causes lots of heated debates and controversies worldwide. It is the moral side of research and the way it disposes of human embryos that lots of people questions. The biological material usually results from in-vitro fertilization clinics, where the remaining embryos are donated for scientific purposes. The pro-life movement that opposes embryonic stem cell research brings lots of arguments against the use of such material for scientific purposes. There is life involved, and scientists are playing God with it, ending or allowing it to continue as it suits their observational purposes.

For the moment, embryonic stem cell research has a lot of stages to go through. Small steps are taken every day in the direction of curing diseases that have so far been considered irrecoverable. Question marks do remain in relation to the morality of the process, to the safety of the innovative treatments and to the extent or efficiency of the results. It remains to be seen whether sacrifices are worth making along the way and whether the very debatable and debated embryonic stem cell research will ever become unanimously recognized and accepted.

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