Stem Cell Science - Case Study Example

A Case Study on Stem Cell Science as a Future Therapy for Diabetes In the medical field, stem cell therapy is known as the employment of stem cells to cure or avert an ailment or illness (Capps, & Campbell, 2010). However, latest experimentations have shown that researchers have been capable to develop embryonic stem cell that turn into beta cells, which are produced by insulin that is absent in diabetes patients. This paper draws its comprehension of the phenomenon of using stem cell technology a case study done by doctors in São Paulo, Brazil.

Recently, clinical experiments with stem cells have engaged the developing field in many creative directions (Wainwright, Williams, Michael, Farsides, & Cribb, 2006). While many teams carry on to improve and develop the role played by bone marrow and cord blood stem cells in their frontline uses in blood and immune ailments, several others are considering to increase the uses of the different types of stem cells for instance, embryonic stem cell that can be used in the curing of diabetes. On the 16th April 2009, Dr.

Carlos EB Couri and associates from the College of São Paulo carried out an experiment to show how stem cell transplants can aid patients with diabetes. The study involved 23 patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes, a medical condition in which the human immune structure quickly destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The stem cell transplants seemingly work by rearranging the immune scheme so that the body halts attacking the pancreas. The study used follow-up figures on 16 patients who were initially transplanted with stem cells in an experiment that was earlier conducted and published in 2007, and then joined it with eight more recruits who joined the study up to 2008.

The scientists had follow-up data for at least seven and 58 months on all the 23 patients who received the transplant. In the findings, they established that 20 patients with no prior ketoacidosis and had no use of corticosteroids throughout the preparative routinebecame free of insulin injections. Twelve patients continued to be insulin-free for a mean period of about 30 months, despite eight patients reverted and restarted insulin use however at a lower dose.ReferenceCapps, B. J., & Campbell, A. V. (2010).

Contested cells: Global perspectives on the stem cell debate. London: Imperial College Press. http://www.worldcat.org/title/contested-cells-global-perspectives-on-the-stem-cell-debate/oclc/619674383Wainwright, S., Williams, C., Michael, M., Farsides, B., & Cribb, A. (2006). From bench to bedside? Biomedical scientists’ expectations of stem cell science as a future of therapy for diabetes. Social Science & Medicine , 63, 2052-2064.