Turning Blood into Brain: Stem Cell - Research Proposal Example

Stem Cell Research number] 9 January 2006 Stem Cell Research Many cures for various ailments, diseases, and illnesses have been found through advancing medical research. However, as with all things, people must take the good with the bad; and there is a bad or con side to medical research. Some of these cons include the continued use of animal testing. With every good product comes a controversial side, one such product is stem cell research. Stem cell research holds the potential to be one of the largest medical breakthroughs in recent history. However, despite the many diseases that have been found to be potentially healed by this research, many ethical dilemmas surround the issue of stem cell research. Stem cell research embodies more than 20 years of constant study in the medical field. In 1981, the first stem cell lines, the inner mass of a blastocyte at about 4 days after post-coitum, was reported (Evans 1981). The doctors participating in these findings isolated the blastocyte cell of an embryonic mouse. Approximately 20-40 mouse embryonic stem cells were obtained through either surgical removal of inner cell mass or invitro culture (Evans 1981, Martin 1981). Once the stem cells have been harvested, several things can benefit from their use. These cells are pluripotent; they have the ability to differentiate into various other types of cells. The three primary types of cells a stem cell can differentiate into include endoderm, ectoderm, and mesoderm. When a person knows what these three types of cells are, the potential benefits become more apparent. The endoderm, the innermost layer of an animal embryo, develops into the gastrointestinal tract, the lungs, and associated structures. The ectoderm, the outermost layer, grows to form the epidermis, nervous tissue, and sensory organs in vertebrates. The third cell is the mesoderm, the middle embryonic layer. This mesoderm layer develops into connective tissue, muscle, bone, and other related parts. Stem cells hold one other characteristic that makes them a significant find to the medical world:their self-renewing ability. Through normal cell division, portions of the cell's DNA are lost; however stem cells contain a higher amount of telomerase. This allows the stem cell to divide indefinitely while not losing any of its chemical makeup (Morrison 1996). Stem cells hold potential applications that researchers have just begun to learn of. One such benefit from using stem cells is the potential to fix damaged tissues; this would open the doors for medical science to begin treating a range of conditions such as heart failure, spinal injuries, diabetes and Parkinson Disease (Biotechology 2005). Other benefits include a larger understanding of human development, new screening techniques for environmental toxins and pollutants, and newer, more accurate methods for testing new medications. For the benefits of stem cell research to be used to its maximum potential, an adequate amount source of healthy puripotent stem cells is required. Finding this source has proven to be easier said than done as each possible source comes with many advantages and disadvantages. Adult stems cells come from the adult cells of specific species and have been identified in several organs and tissues (Mezey 2000). However, each tissue only contains a few stem cells, appearing as though they are stored in a separate area of the tissue where the stem cells remain dormant until becoming activated by tissue injury or disease. The human brain, bone marrow, peripheral blood, blood vessels, skeletal muscle, skin and liver are each some of the tissues and organs currently known to contain stem cells in adults (Mezey 2000, Bjornson 1999). Embryonic stem cells are harvested by taking the cells from a fertilized egg. Medical professionals allow the egg to develop for three or four days until a blastocyte (a hollowed ball) forms. These cells are then extracted. In 1988, the first successful extraction of embryonic stem cells using this method occured (Thompson 1998). Using embryonic stem cells results in a much larger population of healthy cells; allowing just one cell to develop into a population of over 300 quickly (Wobus 1999). However, such use of this method of harvesting is riddled with ethical dillemas; should the human being that the cell would normally grow into not be given that chance at life for the sake of harvesting these cells The concept of regenerative medication is another promising application of stem cells. Researchers are working to improve the ability of introducing stem cells to areas of damaged tissue; many believe that the repair of tissue can be accomplished by using a catheter on patients and guarding these lines to target organs to deliver the cells (Emerson 2003). Whenever a new science approaches humanity with its many benefits, new dilemmas and drawbacks come with along; moral, religious, and ethical differences come to a head and create controversy throughout citizens and politicians alike. The main argument of the preceding method of using embryonic stem cells is centered on when an embryo can be considered alive. It should also be noted that there have been countless cases where even having the knowledge to wipe out a potentially fatal disease has backfired. Influenza remains one of the most common diseases today, and yet due to the meddling of modern science has found a way to adapt and mutate every year creating new strands and ailments with it. What if meddling with more serious diseases, such as cancer or heart disease, results in mutations of these as well Mankind does not know enough about genetic material, or the constructs of it, to be able to safely say that humanity can combat any new genetically mutated diseases. "No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power." (Jacob Bronowski, 1971). With this thought in mind, how much power are scientists accumulating by playing with the genetic materials of a fetus There are several cases in which doctors became so overly complacent in their positions, suffering from a sort of "God Complex," that they misdiagnosed or mistreated patients. It is a common theory that the more power a person has, the more corrupt he or she will become--have doctors stepped over the line with power by "playing God" with other people's genetics Humankind appears to be at the verge of several exciting medical breakthroughs; many of these discoveries will no doubt affect both the longevity of humanity as well as the quality of life. Though many benefits of stem cell research are being realized, researchers must recognize that this area of study is still in its infancy and much more is needed to be know before widespread use. 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Turning Blood into brain: cell bearing neuronal antigens generated in vivo from bone marrow. Science 290, 1779-1782. Morrison, S.J., Prowse, K.R., Ho, P., and Weissman, I.L. (1996). Telomerase activity in hematopoietic cells is associated with self- renewal potential. Immunity 5, 207-216. Thomson JA, Itsloovitz-Eldor J, Shapiro SS, Wakmitz MA, Swiergiel JJ, Marshall VS, Jones JM (1998) Embryonic stem cell lines from human blastocytes. Science 282, 1145-1147. Wobus AM, Shum-Tim D, Galipeau J, Chedrawy E, Eliopoulos N, and Chiu Ray CJ (2000) Embryonic stem cell as a developmental model in vitro. Cells Tissues Organs 1565, 3-4. Read More