User talk:Hclarke23forlife

Stem Cells: The Building Blocks of Life
Stem Cells: The Building Blocks of Life Imagine a boy attempting to build a Lego castle. The complexity of a castle requires a myriad of different pieces. Despite the intricacy of all the different pieces, they all can be simplified to a base product, plastic. Plastic can be molded into all the different Lego pieces ever created. Similar to the plastic, Stem cells are foundation of the building blocks. The two main properties of stem cells are procreation and recreation. Procreation is a process by which stem cells duplicate themselves. This is done by cell splitting, or the process commonly known as Mitosis. While procreation is done by all cells, recreation is an ability specific to stem cells. Recreation is the ability to take form of any other cell, this defines stem cells as integral for creating life. There are two different types of stem cells, adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells. Both have the same effects, but embryonic stem cells are much easier to harvest. The simplest way to extract adult stem cells is drilling into bone marrow, but compared to embryo stem cell farming it seems tremendously easy. Also, because scientists can create their own embryos in a lab, the availability of embryonic stem cells is much higher. This is one of the reasons that embryo harvesting is so heavily publicized compared to adult stem cell harvesting.

History Although currently stem cells are a central point of human research, humans had been living without the knowledge of stem cells for many years. Finally, in the mid 1800’s we found cells with the capability of reforming into other cells. Stem cells have remained in silence until around a hundred years after their discovery. Back in the1950’s, before we knew stem cells existed, the first medical applications of stem cells were used, when doctors used bone marrow transplants to treat leukemia. Fast-forward to 1981, scientists first discover stem cells in mice. After studying the effects of stem cells for medical purposes in mice, the drive for finding a way to farm human stem cells begins. The current method, harvesting from the embryo, was discovered in 1998. Funding from the American government has fluctuated greatly over the last 20 years. Former President Bill Clinton began American funding for stem cell research, but President George Bush stalled the funding quickly afterword.

Controversy The main process by which human stem cells are farmed is thru human embryos. This brings inherent strife. There are two sides of the argument. One side argues that the medical possibilities of stem cells outweigh the cost, human embryos. Conversely, the other side argues that is a question of human wellbeing vs human life. The basis of the argument resides in the debate of when life begins. If life begins at conception, then farming stem cells from human embryos is unethical, but if life doesn’t begin at conception, then the opposite is true.

Research advances

Just a decade ago many scientists believed it would be another 50 years or so before the printing of things like a heart would be possible. Today scientists believe it could be as little as ten years until we can print new organs and possibly limbs for people. Scientists working with Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs) have recently been able to print stem cells that have a 90% survival rate and are able to continually reproduce. Another thing about the ESCs is that on initial testing they would ball up randomly upon regenerating, however the most recent tests show that they now ball up in a structured format taking scientists one step closer to successfully being able to 3D printing organs and limbs with stem cells. Researchers at Wake Forest University have used stem cells to print things like jawbones and muscles. They have even printed cartilage and implanted it on mice. The most amazing thing about the cartilage that was printed was that it contains blood vessels allowing it to be surgically attached then function as if it were a normal part of the mice’s body. The printed cells also show no sign of necrosis, or cells dying, in the samples. The printer that is used to print stem cells isn’t like a regular 3D printer. Where an average 3D printer prints metals and plastics using high temperatures the organic 3D printer has been designed to act more like a human body, with more water based ingredients and a closer to body temperature nozzle. At Wake Forest they use Hydrogels to print organs. Hydrogels are a water based solution that contains the stem cells that are being used to print. Once the organ is completed and implanted the supporting materials in the organ dissolve leaving only the cells that are required to replicate and replace the former organ. According to Swedish scientists the hardest part about bioprinting stem cells is getting them to survive the bioprinting process. However, with the Nano cellulose that they use, the Swedish scientists are able to trick single cells into thinking they are not alone allowing them to replicate at a normal pace once implanted into the body.

Current medical advances

Stem cell research is one of the most exciting and fast-paced areas of biological research and development in the world today. The potential for stem cell medical therapies often seems to be matched only by the controversy the phrase sometimes inspires. Recently, researchers have discovered ways to use stem cells to make medical breakthroughs in any disease. Diseases can be treated via two types of treatment: a stem cell transplant or an embryonic stem cell therapy. Here are just a few of the examples of ways that stem cell research could provides solutions for diseases: 1. Regenerating healthy tissue after injuries: Replacing damaged or destroyed human tissue is difficult, but stem cells can overcome a lot of the problems. Using the body’s own cells means there would be no transplant rejection in organs or with skin grafts. Research at Johns Hopkins University, which involved replacing damaged livers with healthy new cells from a patient, has already started to see results. With enough stem cells, the same kind of research could apply to all kinds of organ damage – including the possibility of regenerating limbs, possibly built around an artificial bone scaffold or built up from scratch. Stem cell therapy could have an even bigger impact on brain or spinal cord injuries. Rejuvenating spinal cord nerves and replacing brain cells killed in a stroke are two areas already showing promise in studies at JHU and UMD, among others. Nerve damage affecting hearing and sight is another hitherto mostly incurable problem that enough understanding of stem cells could improve. 2. Fighting chronic and genetic diseases: Genetic diseases, often incurable, could at least have the damage they cause severely reduced by stem cell therapy. ALS, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and even diabetes could cause less harm if decaying nerves and brain repair capabilities can be countered with new, healthy cells courtesy of stem cells. If the new paper’s implications for making large quantities of stem cells with low-cost procedures holds true, it would make it possible for even advanced sufferers to improve without exorbitant costs or efforts. The same could also apply to birth defects incurred in the womb. Using stem cells has been shown to undo damaged brain and heart tissue caused by birth defects in mice. Much like the new study, applying it to humans would be much easier with a ready supply of stem cells accessible. 3. Cancer: One of the difficulties in combating cancer with chemotherapy and radiation therapy is finding a balance between treatments strong enough to kill cancer cells but at the same time doing minimal damage to the healthy cells of the body with the chemicals and radiation. Targeting just the cancerous cells is difficult, and too aggressive of a treatment program can do more harm than good. Personalized stem cell therapy offers at least part of a solution. If it’s possible to quickly and relatively easily replace damaged organ or other tissue in the body, doctors could be more comfortable taking a more aggressive approach to burning out cancer cells. Any damage caused by the chemicals and radiation would be reparable, and the chances of success would increase – possibly by a lot.

The unimaginable effect

Due to the vast amount of data collected on stem cells, we can see that solving stem cell harvesting would have monumental effects. Anything from brain disease to replacing a limb could be changed by stem cells. Not only are stem cells crucial for making life, but they can enhance life dramatically.

Hclarke23forlife (talk) 03:41, 22 November 2017 (UTC)

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