Many of us hear a lot about the Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research, the notion of what a stem cell is can still seem quite vague to many. What is a stem cell? Why is there a debate?
The researching of stem cells started primarily with the findings of two Canadian scientists Ernest A. McCulloch and James E. Till in 1957. A stem cell is common to all multi-cellular organisms, and must meet two primary conditions. First, they must be able to duplicate. In other words, a stem cell must be able to divide into two of identical stem cells. And second, they must be able to turn into a type of mature cell type.
Stem Cells fall into two categories, Embryonic Stem Cells and Adult Stem Cells.
Embryonic Stem Cells are derived from blastocysts. A blastocyst is an early stage embryo (about 4 to 5 days old in humans and consisting of 50-150 cells total). They can develop into more than 200 types of adult cells when given the sufficient and necessary stimulation for a specific cell type. When not stimulated, the will continue to divide and both cells will retain the characteristics of the initial cell. This type of stem cell is considered particularly valuable because of their long proven ability to become to become other types of cells. The debate over the Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research primarily revolves around if using these cells is ethical. Many on the Con side of Stem Cell Research believe that this is little more than abortion.
Adult Stem Cells are the stem cells that would be found in our after we're born.. The name is somewhat misleading, but Adult Stem Cells are also the type of stem cells that would be found in children. In fact, one of the primary ways that we obtain these cells today is from the umbilical cord blood when a new baby is born. But, scientists have extracted Adult stem cells from many places including blood, bone marrow, hair follicles, etc. Just recently attitudes are starting to change in the scientific community, and researchers are starting to believe that adult stem cells can also turn into almost every type of adult cell. Many favor the research of adult stem cells because they have a much longer track record in treatments compared to Embryonic Stem Cells (there have been no embryonic stem cell treatments today, but there have been 72 recorded from Adult Stem Cells). They also can be taken from us as a choice, and do not result in an embryo leaving it’s development (which many view as abortion).
Since stem cells are able to turn into so many different types of cells there are obviously many medical implications. In certain diseases, patients often have a deficiency of certain types of cells (ie. Muscle, nerve, etc). If we are able to control what these stem cells become, we could potentially cure the disease completely.
That is why there is so much talk about whether or not it is right. So from now when you hear about the Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research, you will have an idea why it might be important. It truly is much more than the abortion-stem cell debate, but has medical implications that have great affects on us and generations to come.
