Cellular differentiation

There was a scientific breakthrough in 2006 where scientists had discovered a way to genetically reprogram mouse mature cells to convert them into a cell that has embryonic stem cell properties and these cells were named ‘induced pluripotent stem cells’ although it is still undetermined whether this new stem cell and embryonic stem cells are critically different. Human induced pluripotent stem cells were developed a year later in 2007. Scientists are optimistic about these stem cells and they…

Thousands of people are treated with stem cells every year in the United States. Stem cells are used in many different ways to better the world and save lives. People debate whether or not it is ethically okay to use stem cells for research. The government is funding this research, so the benefits most likely outweigh the moral issues. There are a few unique properties that all stem cells share. One unique property is that stem cells are unspecialized. They do not have tissue-specific structures…

Embryonic Stem Cell Research The British Medical Journal, The Lancet, challenged media claims stating that embryonic stem cells are just around the corner. They then quoted Neil Scolding, a neurology researcher at the University of Bristol, saying, “An increasing appreciation of the hazards of embryonic stem cells has rightly prevented the emergence or immediate prospect of any clinical therapies based on such cells. The natural propensity of embryonic stem cells to form tumors and their…

Controlling stem cells is definitely not easy (spinal cord injury zone). Although, embryonic stem cells are easier to grow into unspecialized cells scientists claim that there is still a lot of work needed into making the cells differentiation more reliable. Transplanted cells sometimes can "overgrow" and can lead to more issues some even as major as cancer (spinal cord injury zone). Also, the immune system can reject the transplanted cells. Many people have different opinions when…

many kinds of adult stem cells exist and in which tissues? How do they evolve during development? Why do they remain in an undifferentiated state when surrounded by differentiated cells? What factors control adult stem cell proliferation and differentiation? Stem cells of all kinds are an exciting adventure into possibility into the world of science. The seemingly endless possibilities for curing disease are hopeful. There is much yet to be learned and discovered but there is hope that one day…

Stem Cells Enhance Life Nancy Reagan, former first lady of the United States explains her feelings about stem cell research by stating, “Now science has presented us with a hope called stem cell research, which may provide our scientists with many answers that have for so long been beyond our grasp.” Day after day, the research and use of stem cells greatly increase allowing for scientists to explore the unimaginable, creating a large amount of life from a single, minute cell. Stem cell…

A cell is the smallest structural and functional unit of an organism. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells. “The essential characteristics of [these] cells are their ability for self-renewal and the ability to form one or more specialised cell types over time” (Carvalho and Ramalho-Santos 596). In other words, they serve as an internal repair system. When a stem cell divides, each new cell can either remain a stem cell or any other type of cell with a normal yet more specialized and…

Allowing Embryonic Stem Cells to be Used in Medical Research Throughout the past decades, researchers from across the globe have been trying to find cures for debilitating illnesses that have ravaged the human race since the beginning of time. Cancer, blindness, and Alzheimer 's disease are just a few of the many that are on the list. The discovery of stem cells, blank cells that can become any type of cell in the body, has been the leading breakthrough in the search for cures. Although they are…

Stem cells reflection Introduction Stem cells are cells that can become any other cells in the body. Stem cells are used to heal a person's body, they divide to take the place of dead cells as long as the person or animal continues to live. There are two differences between stem cells and other cells, the first is that “they are unspecialized cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division.”1 The second difference is that under certain psychologic or experimental conditions stem cells…

A young girl, at the age of 16, was a victim of a traumatic car crash that deeply damaged her spinal cord and left her paralyzed from the neck down. After being hospitalized for almost a year, her doctors concluded that she would never walk again. A nine month old baby boy was admitted to a hospital and diagnosed with sickle cell disease, and the same night, suffered a stroke on his entire right side. A natural gas leak had been detonated inside of a house after a match had been lit, covering…