Effective Method of Converting Fat Cells into Liver Cells - Research Paper Example

Effective method of converting fat cells into liver cells For the opening, I began off with some overall background information as to what transdifferentiation entails. In Transdifferentiation: Flexibility in Cell Differentiation by Timothy Okada I learn about transdifferentiation. For starters, transdifferentiation means that conversion of one differentiated cell variety into another. Cells are the final structural component of an animal or plant body. According to Okada (23-35) each has a nucleus consisting of DNA, and a cytoplasm consisting of a compound mixture of proteins and other kinds of molecule which perform biochemical and/or mechanical functions. There are approximately 210 sorts of cell in a human body. Mainly all of them are what we call differentiated cells, each variety of which has a particular task and a specific appearance when viewed through a microscope. For instance the cells of the liver are well understood kinds of differentiated cell. The differentiated kind of a cell belongs to relies on which specific genes are active in its nucleus, and consequently of proteins that are produced. This on the other hand, explains the kind of cell. The whole unit of genes found in the cell nucleus is known as the genome. Conversely, undifferentiated cell is one that does not have apparent specialization of gene appearance. Differentiated cells are, by explanation, detached and continuous. A cell condition might not be consistent, it can be very short lived, and evolve simultaneously into a distinct cell state. As a result I feel that it is essential to understand how the behavior and even the kind of a cell lineage can be drastically transformed. However, a lot of financing and time goes into discovering how to accomplish these objectives, as greater regulation over cells creates new outlooks in medicine (Okada 70).  To begin my research process I began with the history of transdifferentiation since I have very little knowledge about the process and need to get the details and history on it. I began with a search on Google books on the internet to find some background information about the matter. a search on the Stanford School of Medicine on the internet to look for some background data on efficient method for converting fat cell to liver cells, and found an article that had incredibly all information I would require for this project. In Transdifferentiation Flexibility in Cell Differentiation I found out what transdifferentiation is all about. In Researchers Demonstrate Efficient Method for Converting Fat Cell to Liver Cell by Bruce Goldman, I found that scientists for the first time have converted normal fat cells into functional liver tissues without utilizing an intermediate pluripotent stem cell condition, and how this could initiate a terrific stride forward in the field of regenerative medicine by producing more dependable replacement organs. Bruce Goldman gives detailed background information concentrating on how researchers discovered that adipose stem cells from human liposuction aspirates and turned into human, liver-lie cells that thrived inside the mice’s bodies.  He uses solid facts and statistical information to demonstrate to us how the researcher’s discovery will assist the United States in producing organs by the use of reliable method. This will consequently reduce the number of people who die from liver related complications. Goldman shares the background about this method in which the Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have come up with a rapid, effective means to reproduce cells extracted from routine liposuction into liver cells with large capacity for regenerative medicine. Goldman goes on to mention other methods of converting liposuction-derived adipose cells to liver-like cells for induced hepatocytes, and spherical culture (Goldman 1). I most largely concentrated on the new fat-to-liver method, Goldman (1) also goes on to talk about how acute liver failure acetaminophen alone takes approximately 500 lives annually. This is responsible for about 60,000 emergency-room visits and over 25,000 hospitalizations annually. This information from the article is germane to my research question since it offers all the background information required to understand the fat-to-liver technique. Since the article is from 2013, it is gracefully the latest. I as well feel that it is correspondingly credible source since a vast majority of the data from the article is factual information, and has very little of his own personal opinion, if any, in the article. I could certainly utilize this information in an essay since its borders on the exactitude and it pertains closely to my research question. There are a lot of things that I did not initially know about that I have learned from this source. For instance, I didn’t know that there existed other techniques of converting fat cells to liver cells, which include iPS and embryonic stems that are pluripotent. Now that I have the background about converting fat cells into liver cells, my next question: which between the three methods is the most effective? To find the answer to this question, I will use other sources to find out information about iPS and embryonic stems. Because my only other source I really required was a scholarly journal, I decided to search on the library’s website to check whether any articles would come up. For my keywords I typed induced pluripotency. One article I found was in the field of microbiology and genetics. The website publishes high-quality papers of wide-ranging interest and biological importance in the field of molecular biology, molecular genetics, and associated fields. The article is from Genes & Development from 2010. Titled “induced pluripotency: history, mechanism, and applications”, the authors tried to give moderately unbiased information about induced pluripotency. The authors cite that the discovery of induced pluripotency denotes the synthesis of scientific standards and technologies that adult mammalian cells can be reprogrammed to a pluripotent form by the forced explanation of a few embryonic transcription aspects. The authors continue giving more information about how iPSC technology has offered researchers with an original apparatus to derive disease-specific stems cells for the study and probable treatment of degenerative disorders with autologous cells. However, in the end the writers acknowledge that there is the need to addressing the question about molecular and functional equivalence to ECSs. Thus addressing this question will need a painstaking examination of the genomic and epigenomic veracity of human iPSCs (Konrad and Stadfeld 2239-2263 ). This source is background information because it is offering hard facts obtained from research, but as well considerably offers opinion information. The data offered is moderately current, as the research carried out in 2010. The scholarly article is credible because it has been peer reviewed before being published in the Journal of Genes & Development. The information obtained from this article is slightly germane because it looks at the technical advance in iPSC generation. The scholarly journal article was written by Stadfeld and Konrad However, I have not yet decided what I am apparently going to argue for essay number three just yet. One fascinating article on Daily Mail section was about research that demonstrated a technique to develop skin cells into stem cells, which were then matured into liver cells. The article titled “Grow your own transplant liver in a lab within just 5 years” by a Daily Mail reporter talks about the technique developed in this research appears probably to be an priceless method for producing cell cultures that could be experimented on in the lab. The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Cambridge and financed by the Wellcome Trust. This was a lab study that focused to develop a method for converting human skills into liver cells. The researchers then were able to induce the cells to become inducible pluripotent stem cells. This information relates to my research subject since it somewhat goes into detail about inducing the cells to become inducible pluripotent stem cells. This article was written in August 2010 so it is a current article, and highlights the other uses of inducible pluripotent stems technique for non-neurological diseases, such as inherited metabolic diseases of the liver. Nevertheless, this article appears to be getting a little far off the rail of my initial subject about effective method for converting fat cells into liver cells. One thing I learned from this article is that scientists have come up with a method of producing liver cells from skin cells by creating inducible stem cells. The study showed the capacity of this method to create cell culture models of inherited liver diseases (Daily Mail 1). I had a rather difficult time finding sources that I would be able to use, but finally I stumbled upon a website called sciencedaily.com. That article was titled Need Muscle for Tough Spot? Turn to Fat Stem Cells. Although this article didn’t have the author’s names, it veers slightly off my research topic I found it worthwhile to look at it. He asserts that transplanted stem cells has the potential of replacing and repairing diseased muscle. This article was written in January 2013, so I would say that it is up to date accurate information. One thing I learned from this article is that fat stem cells have other uses including the potential of replacing and repairing diseased muscle (Science Daily 1). However, up until now transplants have not been very successful in muscular dystrophy patients. Since I hadn’t found adequate information about induced pluripotent stem cells, I started with a search on Google Books on the internet to find some background data on the matter, and found a book that had terrific information on all I would require for this project. In Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells by Sibel Yildirim, I found how pluripotency emerged. Yildirim offers detailed background information concentrating on the first proof that pluripotency can be induced in lineage devoted cells from cloning tests. He uses solid facts to show how the era of induced pluripotent stem cells has evolved. Up until now, optional strategies for producing iPS cells have been developed. The initial Yamanaka’s technique depended on the utilization of retroviruses, amounting to permanent incorporation of the exogenous genes in the genome. The book was published in 2011. This information from the book is germane to my research topic since it offers all the background data required to understand how pluripotency works (Yildirim 20-45). I initially knew so little about induced pluripotent stem cells technique, however I didn’t understand any details and about how it emerged. After reading this book I have a vast understanding of induced pluripotent stem cells works and how it came about. Since the book was published in 2011, it pretty up to date. After finding and scrutinizing five sources, I have learned a lot about the ways for converting fat cells into liver cells, and distinct arguments that are being made about this subject. According to these sources there is promising groundwork research that may amount to development in the understanding of hereditary liver diseases and in treatments for those conditions. Whilst liver transplant can save lives, the whole process is a little far compounded, risky, and even when successful, synonymous with side effects (Yildirim 60-78) Work cited Daily Mail Reporter. “Grow your own transplant liver in a lab within just 5 years.” Daily Mail, 25 August. 2010. Web 5 Nov. 2013. Goldman, Bruce. (2013). “Research demonstrates efficient method for converting fat cells to liver cells.” Stanford School of Medicine, Oct 21. 2013. Web 5 Nov. 2013. Okada, T.S. (2000). Transdifferentiation: Flexibility in Cell Differentiation. New York: Oxford University Press. Science News. “Need Muscle for a Tough Spot? Turn to Fat Stem Cells.” Science Daily 30 Jan. 2013. Web 5 Nov. 2013. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120130094358.htm Stadfeld, Matthias & Hochedlinger, Konrad. (2010). “Induced Pluripotency: History, Mechanism, and Applications.” Genes & Development 24: 2239-2263. Yildirim, Sibel. (2011). Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell. 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