Embryonic treatments can be developed through stem cell research. Embryonic stem cells offer a similar potential, along with the possibility of being able to treat certain genetic disorders or birth defects so more people could go on to live happy and healthy lives.Ħ. Improving insulin production, repairing damaged heart muscle after a heart attack, repairing torn tendons or ligaments, and even attacking cancers or viruses. The potential of stem cell research is unlimited, including offering the chance to improve mental health. Or having a veteran who lost a limb in an attack could have a replacement grown in a lab setting and then attached so they don’t need a prosthetic – they could have the real thing. Imagine being able to grow a replacement organ for one that is failing. Because stem cells have regenerative properties, the potential is unlimited. That allows us to extend average life expectancy rates, stop diseases, and even reduce the costs of medical treatments.ĥ. Even if a stem cell therapy isn’t developed from this research, the understanding obtained can help to create new treatments that can potentially cure what is damaging our cells. By understanding these processes better, it becomes possible to understand how an illness or disease develops. Stem cell research allows us to understand how the cells in our bodies work. This research gives us insights into how human life works. In the US, there are 5 hematopoietic cord blood treatments that have been approved by the FDA.Ĥ. Holoclar is another potential treatment that can help people with severe limbal deficiencies because of burns to the eye. A stem cell therapy called Prochymal has been conditionally approved in Canada to manage graft vs host disease in children who do not respond to steroid treatments. The most common use of stem cell therapy currently used is to treat leukemia and lymphoma patients with bone marrow transplantation. The current treatment options for stem cells are numerous. This process allows for the potential benefits that embryonic stem cell lines could provide for medical treatments without the need to destroy embryos to collect the cells that are needed.ģ. Once this occurs, they can be activated into mesoderm, endoderm, or ectoderm cells. Some stem cells can be transformed into pluripotent stem cells.Īdult stem cells, through the use of iPS reprogramming factors, have the ability to be reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells. This limits the need for immunosuppressant treatments to maintain a positive quality of life in the future.Ģ. Even when familiar umbilical cord blood cells are used to develop treatments, the rejection rates are quite low. These cells can then be transformed into various therapies that run a low risk of rejection because the cells are taken from the individual needing treatment. Therapies can be developed from adult stem cells that are taken from each patient. Adult stem cells have low rejection rates. What Are the Advantages of Stem Cell Research?ġ. There are additional advantages and disadvantages of stem cell research that must be considered. No amount of medical research, it would be argued, should come at the expense of life itself, no matter the number of people who could be potentially treated from processes developed from the research. These cells require the destruction of an embryo when harvested, which to some is a direct decision to end a human life. Embryonic stem cells can be obtained from cord blood taken after the umbilical cord has been removed.Īs for disadvantages, one of the primary points of content against this type of research is how some embryonic stem cells are obtained. Adult stem cells can be harvested from healthy individuals by accessing their bone marrow and other tissue sources. One of the primary advantages of stem cell research is the availability of cell lines and that they can be obtained ethically. Cord blood treatments that involve stem cells have helped to treat more than 6,000 people and 60+ diseases and that is just the beginning of what this medical research may offer. Each cell line that is harvested offers the opportunity to develop new treatments that may help to stop a plethora of diseases that affect humanity. Stem cell research takes two primary forms: adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |