Umbilical Cord Blood Essay

Improved Essays
Show More
In this paper, I will discuss the potential uses for stem cells from umbilical cord blood. I will also discuss the advantages of using umbilical cord blood versus a bone marrow transplant as a source of stem cells; and I will justify whether umbilical cord blood banks should exist at all. First, I would like to begin by explaining what stem cells are and why they are important. Stem cells are a type of cell that divides continuously and can give rise to other types of cells. (Biology of Humans: Concepts, Applications and Issues) They may also be thought of as a “repair” or “first aid kit” for our bodies. Whenever we damage a part of an organ or tissue in our body, stem cells are essential for replacing what was lost or damaged. Stem …show more content…
More specifically, stem cells in the umbilical cord blood and placenta have more advantages than adult blood stem cells that would be extracted from bone marrow. (Biology of Humans: Concepts, Applications and Issues) It is easier to extract stem cells from the umbilical cord blood, because the cord is removed from the body of the newborn. When a child has an illness, it may be possible that doctors can use those stem cells from the umbilical cord blood to treat diseases because the number of stem cells in the umbilical cord is fewer than the amount that the placenta has. Since the placenta has an abundant amount of stem cells, they can be used to treat adults with diseases and illnesses, when combined with stem cells from cord blood. Stem cells are also important because “inner cells in the blastocyte can develop into different other cells throughout the entire body of the organism, including all of the many specialized cell types and organs, such as the heart, lungs, skin, sperm, eggs, and other tissues.” (www.stemcells.nih.gov/info/basis/1.htm) One good advantage about stem cells is that they have a less chance being rejected by the person receiving them than are adult stem cells from bone marrow, because the tissue markers on umbilical cord stem cells are

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Is3350 Unit 1 Assignment
    • 3794 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Is3350 Unit 1 Assignment

    Task 1 – Purpose You must refine the general question/topic down into a specific question for you to research and answer. Task 2 – Sources of information Processing information: Selecting biological ideas relevant to the issue from a range of sources and organising the ideas for reporting. A range needs to involve at least three sources and the sources can be the same type e.g. all from the Internet. Your sources should be recorded and processed in your research document.…

    • 3794 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Stem Cell Research Argumentative Essay
    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Stem Cell Research Argumentative Essay

    However, there are other ways a researcher could get the desired stem cells of which include bone marrow and the umbilical cord. ALS states that “stem cells occur naturally, such as within the bone marrow, umbilical cord, or they can be created from other kinds of cells and that iPS cells human embryos were the only source of human cells that were available for research.” “Although not as big in number, iPS cells are induced pluripotent stem cells which are less harmful and yet more…

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Embryonic Stem Cell Research Argumentative Essay
    • 1032 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Embryonic Stem Cell Research Argumentative Essay

    Stem cells are cells that have the ability to differentiate into many different types of specialized cells. However, stem cells are not where the controversial and ethical debates come from (NIH). Embryonic stem cells are the potentially life saving, while life ending, solution that flares controversial debates from scientists, religious leaders, politicians, and everyone in between. Embryonic stem cells are stem cells derived from an human embryos that are around five days old and have the ability to reproduce through cell division as well as differentiate into any type of cell (NIH). Embryonic stem cell research has great rewards with the possibilities of cell based therapies and cures of more than ten life altering diseases, but also has great consequences of cell rejection and the destroying of human embryos (NIH).…

    • 1032 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Pros And Cons Of Embryonic Stem Cells
    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Pros And Cons Of Embryonic Stem Cells

    Many people are familiar with bone marrow stem cell transplants because it has helped save the lives of many patients for decades. Stem cells are biologically defined as “unspecialized cells found in living things and are able to renew themselves and develop into other cells by means of growth and repair so long as the host is still alive. They can also be manipulated to become tissue or organ specific cells” ("14 Key Pros and Cons of Embryonic Stem Cell Research”). However, controversy recently begun when scientists discovered how to remove stem cells from human embryos.…

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Embryonic Stem Cell Research: An Ethical Debate
    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Embryonic Stem Cell Research: An Ethical Debate

    Embryonic stem cells are stem cells taken from human embryos. Embryonic stem cells are even better than stem cells taken from adults; adult stem cells can only do so much, but embryonic stem cells are able to develop into any cell type and can multiply almost infinitely. Because of their abilities, they can be used to repair organs. There is even work on trying to use stem cells to make entire organs. If stem cells are continued to be research, many diseases, like alzheimer’s and diabetes, could be cured.…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Pros And Cons Of Embryonic Stem Cells
    • 1002 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Pros And Cons Of Embryonic Stem Cells

    Embryonic stem cells are very controversial in the scientific community and as well as the medical community for many reasons. “Stem cells are cells that can be any cell that the human body needs to be”,(Rowlery,usnews.com). For example, a stem cell can be a skin cell, a liver cell and or a bone cell. The reason why embryonic stem cells are extremely controversies is because the cells come from human embryos. To obtain theses types of cells a mother need to have an abortion, and doctors and scientist have to harvest many embryos and or Fettes.…

    • 1002 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Embryonic Stem Cell Argumentative Essay
    • 984 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Embryonic Stem Cell Argumentative Essay

    Many people are opposed to embryonic stem cell research as it is necessary to terminate a living human embryo, which individuals like Pro life advocates think of as murder. There are two different types of stem cells we can encounter, embryonic stem cells and somatic stem cells also known as body cells. These cells are very important for living organisms as the embryo forms the structure for the foundation of the organism like muscle cells. Stem cells render a possibility for the treatment of diseases like heart diseases or macular degeneration. “Using adult stem cells drawn from bone marrow and umbilical cord blood stem cells, scientists have discovered new treatments for scores of diseases and conditions such as Parkinson's disease, juvenile diabetes, and spinal cord injuries.”…

    • 984 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    What´s Cloning Harmful Embryonic Stem Cells?
    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What´s Cloning Harmful Embryonic Stem Cells?

    Would you insert harmful embryonic stem cells inside your newborn into treatments? The treatments may or may not function correctly. A cloning debate was established in the late 1998 which two scientific reports were published do to the success of isolating human stem cells. Embryos stem cells are able to adapt to many different function and activities than other stems cells. They are different and committed to a specific function than adult stem cells.…

    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Ethical Issues Concerning Stem Cell Research
    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Ethical Issues Concerning Stem Cell Research

    There are a greater number of embryonic cells and they can be created outside of the body, so the patients does not have to use their own cells for repair or replenishment. Embryonic cells also contain less DNA than adult stem cells, so there is a smaller chance of an abnormality to occur. Embryonic cells also regenerate faster than adult stem cells, speeding up the repair process for any damaged body…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Embryonic Stem Cell Research Ethics
    • 1830 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Embryonic Stem Cell Research Ethics

    They have the ability to form all adult cell types. Harnessing this may very well provide a source of cells to replace those that are lost or damaged as a result of disease (Cowan, et al). Embryonic stems cells are taken from the embryos at the blastocyst stage and the procedure for getting them is relatively efficient. Adult stem cells on the other hand are hard, if not impossible to harvest. Also embryonic stem cells have a much greater proliferation capacity than do adult stem cells (Devolder).…

    • 1830 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Embryonic Stem Cells Argumentative Essay
    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Embryonic Stem Cells Argumentative Essay

    Embryonic Stem Cells Stem cells were first discovered in the 1800’s as the building blocks of life. In 1998 researchers extracted the first human embryonic stem cell that could sustain life in a laboratory. Since that time, it has become a controversial issue due to a particular way some stem cells come about, more specifically, embryonic stem cells. While adult stem cells are used more due to their lack of controversy, embryonic stem cells remain substantially more useful. Many question the use of embryonic stem cells because they connect it back to the obliteration of fetuses, in order to retrieve embryonic stem cells, they must be taken during the blastocyst stage when the embryo is a mere five days old.…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Embryonic Stem Cells Essay
    • 1617 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Embryonic Stem Cells Essay

    Should the Federal Government Fund the Research of Embryonic Stem Cells Every day, people are diagnosed with life-threatening diseases like Alzheimer 's, Parkinson 's, and cancer, their cells are literally fighting against themselves. One way this can be corrected is with the use of stem cells. Stem cells are an undifferentiated cell of a multicellular organism that is capable of developing into an indefinite amount of cells of the same type. There are two prominent types of stem cells, embryonic and adult stem cells. Adult stem cells are found in adults, children, babies, placentas, cadavers, and umbilical cords and can be extracted without any harm to the individual.…

    • 1617 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Benefits Of Embryonic Stem Cell Research
    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Benefits Of Embryonic Stem Cell Research

    Stem cell research has persisted for decades, and has doubtless produced numerous positive and influential results, namely the replacement and repair of vital organs and tissues in the human body. Indeed, adult stem cell therapy has proceeded largely undisputed in medical procedure. However, embryonic stem cell research, the extraction of stem cells from early stage embryos, has been highly controversial and polarizing. Mainly, ethical concerns have arisen in response to the very concept and implementation of embryonic stem cell therapy; yet, these concerns are outweighed by the benefits of embryonic stem cell research.…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Embryonic Stem Cell Research?
    • 1047 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Embryonic Stem Cell Research?

    Within the past decade stem cell research has been a very debatable issue within the secular and religious communities. The ongoing debate has been based on the basis of embryonic stem cell research, the moral ethics of it, versus adult stem cell research. While generalized stem cell research can and has led to huge scientific breakthroughs, the benefit from embryonic research does not warrant the risk of potentially killing a future President. So what are stem cells and why are they important, you might ask?…

    • 1047 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Stem Cell Research Persuasive Essay
    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Stem Cell Research Persuasive Essay

    Stem Cells and their potential Stem cells are defined as unspecialized cells, which according to the International Society for Stem Cell Research (2013) they stated, “Stem cells are the foundation cells for every organ and tissue in our bodies” Meaning they are the basic building blocks for everything that is associated to the body. According to Dr. Shahin Rafii (2014) he states, “The potential for stem cells is tremendous: If someone has a heart attack and major scar tissue, we can use stem cells to regenerate the heart” (Rafii, Weill Cornell Medical College, 2014). For stem cells can be used to replace damaged organs, nerves as well as cure diseases that were known to be incurable.…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings