Posts Tagged ‘adult stem cell research’

Where Is Regenerative Medicine Heading?

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

adult stem cell research

“When we know, in effect, what our cells know, health care will be revolutionized, giving birth to regenerative medicine — ultimately including the prolongation of life by regenerating our aging bodies with younger cells,” Dr. William Haseltine, CEO of Human Genome Sciences Inc., told the New York Times in a November 2000 article. He added that by learning the cell’s language and chemical processes that turn on/off cell repair, we can in essence connect with our internal fountain of youth. That’s not all stem cells research, nanotechnology and regenerative medicine can do though.

Regenerative medicine has great potential to help patients suffering from severe injuries and lost limbs. Take Lee Spievack, for instance. He sliced off his fingertip while working with a hobby shop airplane propeller. His brother happened to be a medical researcher and instructed him to apply a special powder to his wound. After four weeks, Spievack’s entire fingertip had grown back; the skin, nail, blood vessels and all! The powder was made from the extracellular matrix of a pig bladder containing proteins, connective tissues and stemcells. “It tells the body, start that process of tissue regrowth,” explains Dr. Steven Badylak of the University of Pittsburgh. Theoretically, if a person can regrow a body part, they can even regrow a missing limb, he added.

Another focus of regenerative medicine is to replace ailing body parts in a more natural way, using adult stem cell research as a springboard. “The cells have all the genetic information necessary to make new tissue,” says Dr. Anthony Atala of the Wake Forest Institute explained. “That’s what they are programmed to do. So your heart cells are programmed to make more heart tissue, your bladder cells are programmed to make more bladder cells.” Clinical trials are already underway that involve creating a patch of bladder cells or kidney cells or liver cells that may work with surrounding tissue to become a fully functioning transplant. Rather than go through the trouble of finding qualified donors, scientists will one day be able to grow organs from one’s own cells or stimulate the cells to repair the tissue internally.

Dr. Steven Wolf, at the Army Institute of Surgical Research, says the military is on the cutting edge of regenerative medicine to help amputees and army veterans who live with the devastating physical consequences of fighting in war-torn regions. “It’s hard to ignore this guy is missing half his skin, this guy’s missing his leg,” Wolf explains. “You start asking the question, is there somebody out there with the technology that can do this for us? The answer is maybe.” Today, funding stem cell research is less controversial now that the federal ban has been lifted and adult stem cells have proven more useful in laboratory settings, so the future of regeneration is bright.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in General | Comments Off

What You Should Know About The Stem Cell Research Controversy

Saturday, July 18th, 2009

stem cell controversy

One of the first things President Barack Obama did upon taking office was lift the controversial ban on stem cell research. The National Institute of Health informs us that human stem cells are very important to scientific research because they have the potential to differentiate into almost any type of cell, tissue or organ in the body. Additionally, stem cell therapies may make it possible for humans to regenerate damaged parts of their own bodies more naturally, without using artificial materials or drugs. In the future, scientists hope to treat cancer, Parkinson’s, heart disease and diabetes with stem cells.

In an embryo that is just three days old, stem cells are found that will later transform into the heart, lungs, skin, tissues, bone marrow, muscle and brain. Advocates of stem cell research believe that there may be a way to generate replacement cells for parts of the body lost through injury, disease or aging. What makes stemcells different than blood, muscle or nerve cells is their innate ability to replicate for months in a laboratory setting. Scientists are hopeful about the potential for long term rejuvenation using these self-renewing human stem cells.

There are two varieties used in modern stem cell research: stem cells embryonic and stem cells adult. Embryonic stem cells are cultivated in a Petri dish from in vitro fertilization. This type of stem cell is extremely versatile and can differentiate into more than 220 cell types in the body for more than a year in a research setting, which is promising for many future medical treatments. Scientists are still trying to understand why embryonic cells are so much more flexible than adult stem cells. Some Americans feel it is inherently wrong to tamper with human cells, by creating, manipulating and destroying fertilized cells that could otherwise continue to grow into human life within a host.

While stem cell research has been full of controversy in America, other nations, notably Iran, have nothing against stem cell research at all. “Policies that may be classified as liberal in the American political system seem to be common sense to Iranian politicians,” explains Hassan Ashktorab of the Howard University Cancer Center in Washington, DC. While George W. Bush banned research on fetal stem cells, Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei embraced the modern science. While human cloning is still condemned in Iranian culture, they believe it is their duty to do their best to prevent illness and protect human life.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in General | Comments Off

An Overview Of The Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Saturday, July 11th, 2009

stem cell therapies

Human embryonic stem cells are a relatively new field of research. The first human stem cell was isolated for experiments by Dr. James Thomson from the University of Wisconsin in 1998. A ban on federal funding for research involving fetal stem cells further stymied research possibilities for many years until former President Bush allowed some of the frozen stem cell lines to be used for research, rather than discarded. Then President Obama lifted the federal ban entirely. As a result, human stem cell research is still in its early stages, but human clinical trials are expected to begin this summer.

There are three classes of human embryonic stem cells. A fertilized egg is “totipotent,” which means that it can give rise to any type of cell in the body. A “pluripotent” stem cell can become any type of cell in the body (except for those required to develop a fetus). “Multipotent” cells can give rise to a small number of other cell types. These fetal stem cells are usually taken from embryos and used to create “stem cell lines,” which can be grown forever in a laboratory setting. While most stem cells come from young embryos that are just 3 to 5 days old, some pluripotent stem cell lines may be derived from fetal tissue that is beyond 8 weeks old.

There are several traits that make human embryonic stem cells preferable for stem cell therapies. For one, these early developmental cells are a blank canvas. These cells have no particular tendency to become anything specific but may be encouraged to become one of 200+ cell types. Additionally, fetal stem cells can remain in this protean, undifferentiated state for long periods of time and may divide or self-renew indefinitely. Therefore, it’s easier to create mass quantities of embryonic stem cells for use in adult stem cell research.

Even though research using human embryonic stem cells was limited to select states that passed ballot initiatives, underground, privately-funded scientists have been working diligently since 1998 to find ways to use not just fetal stem cells but also adult human stem cells. It was previously believed that embryonic stem cells were versatile, able to become any of 200+ cell types and that adult stem cells were confined to only replicating more specialized cells of a similar nature. In late 2007, scientists found a way to reprogram adult stem cells to behave like embryonic stem cells that will form a number of other tissues, rather than just the tissue it was derived from. More studies are needed to determine whether these manipulated cells are safe for use in humans, but the findings are significant.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in General | Comments Off

An Overview Of Adult Stem Cell

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

adult stem cell

The adult stem cell has been collected to treat leukemia, lymphoma and inherited blood disorders. Most recently, it’s believed stem cell therapies will benefit patients with diabetes and kidney cancer. While widespread human treatment using stem cells is still nearly a decade away, scientists are rigorously studying these cells for answers to some of life’s greatest mysteries: How do unspecified cells find their purpose? How do they know when to begin replicating and when to stop? Can we manipulate these cells inside the body or use transplanted cells outside the body to produce treatments? Will the body accept or reject these cells?

To be considered an embryonic stem cell, a young cell must be located in the inner mass of the blastocyst. By contrast, the adult stem cell is not characterized by its origin. To be considered stem cells adult variety, the cell must have the ability to differentiate and must be able to self-renew for the lifetime of its host. Scientists are always discovering new locations of adult stem cells, which have grown from the spinal cord and the bone marrow to include the brain, the blood vessels, the hair follicle, skeletal muscle, fat, the skin’s epithelia, the digestive system, the cornea, the retina, the peripheral blood, the teeth, the liver and the pancreas.

One of the most exciting adult stem cell discoveries occurred in 2008 when researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California coaxed mouse brain stemcells to differentiate into support cells and function with the surrounding neuronal network. When pampered in a Petri dish, scientists found that they could encourage oligodendrocyte cells to form the fatty myelin sheath that speeds up the transfer of electrical signals along the axons. They could also stimulate cellular growth in the hippocampus; the brain’s center for memories and learning. Scientists hope this research can provide a breakthrough in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, stroke and epilepsy.

The most studied type of adult stem cell is called a “hematopoietic stem cell,” which is derived from bone marrow. Using transplants, scientists have restored immune and blood components using stem cells. Scientists have identified stem cells in the hippocampus region of the brain whose function is currently unknown and are looking at ways to induce proliferation or differentiation in these seemingly dormant cells. Muscle, blood and fat stem cells may be able to transform into other cell types under certain conditions, which will fuel many studies in the years to come.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in General | Comments Off