Stem Cells for Tissues

hello world,

this is a paper I wrote about stem cells and I think it is very important so please read!! (I had to pretend I was a doctor for the Ministry of Health which is false, disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a biologist or even a scientist). please comment your thoughts <3

I am not-so Dr. Adrienne Ralph, a fake research scientist for the Ontario Swag-istry of Health, and I would like to inform you of a groundbreaking technology called stem cells. These are unspecialized cells that can produce various types of specialized cells, meaning that they can fix any tissue in the body, if used as an embryonic cell, because they are pluripotent (Dickinson). This means that they can specialize into almost any cell in the body, and this is an innovative discovery because it can replace the need to have organ transplants and donations when there is only a small amount of diseased tissue, but there are ethical issues pertaining to this technology. The second type of stem cell is the adult stem cell, which are not as useful, but have many less ethical issues and controversies. Adult stem cells are specialized cells taken from a certain organ of a healthy adult, and transplanted into the same organ of someone in need of new cells (Bethesda). These cells work together to regrow the diseased tissues of the organ, so it can become healthy again, but they must be used in the same type of tissue that they are taken from, but may be used as a different type of cell, unlike pluripotent, or embryonic, stem cells. All stem cells have biological principles such as the fact that they have the potential to develop into other cell types and they need to be able to consistently undergo cell division (Dickinson).  An example of this use of stem cells is in the treatment of leukemia, where the stem cells in bone marrow are transplanted to start producing healthy white blood cells to fight the disease (Bethesda).

            The use of stem cells in every day medical labs is far more efficient and inexpensive than the donation and transplantation of organs. There is far less chance of rejection (Ladock), especially if it is in a case in which the patients own cells are used, like in the case of Claudia Castillo, where her own stem cells were used to regrow the tissue of a new trachea, which is now in perfect condition in her body. Stem cells can also be received a lot quicker than organ donations, as there are no long waiting lists for new organs, and this can reduce death rates and worsening of diseases (Kochar). There is also no need to remove an entire organ if just a small piece of tissue is diseased, as was needed before; all is required is stem cells to regrow that piece of tissue to be replaced.

            The use of stem cells can be very beneficial to the future of medicine, but there are also multiple risks associated with the technology. Stem cells have benefits in therapy and regenerative medicine, and have great potential to find cures for terminal or life altering diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, diabetes, and cancer (Ladock). These cells can also allow scientists to test new medicine and technology without the potential to harm humans or animals. Although they can be very beneficial, the long-term side effects are still unknown, and the procedures can be very expensive (Ladock). Many complex procedures may also need doctors with extensive knowledge in the area, and since they have not been around very long, it is hard to determine all risks that there may be.

            Although many support the use of stem cells for medical advancement, there are many who are against the use of embryonic stem cells, and this has caused much controversy (Dickinson). Many people do not believe that embryos should be used for experimentation, as it is technically a living being, even though it is just a bundle of cells. Most of these embryos are also received through in vitro fertilization, so they would technically be thrown out anyways, if they were unused by the medical community (Bethesda). Nowadays, viewpoints have been evolving, and continue to change as the technology advances.

            Stem cells are already a breakthrough technology, and have the potential to cure a large variety of diseases and teach the medical community even more about human cells. Eventually, I think that treatments like this could replace the need for organ transplants, especially in instances where only small areas of tissue are affected. The cure for multiple diseases, like cancer, may even be discovered using technologies like these. In my opinion, stem cell technologies will be around for a long time, and will create many more medical discoveries.

                                                            Not-So Dr. Adrienne Ralph

Ontario Swag-istry of Health

Works Cited

Bethesda, M. D. "Stem Cell Basics." Stem Cell Information. National Institute of Health, 28 Apr. 2009. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. <http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/defaultpage.asp>.

Dickinson, Tom, et al. ON Science 10. Toronto, ON: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2009. Print.

Kochar, Preeti G. "What Are Stem Cells?" CSA. ProQuest, Dec. 2004. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. <http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/stemcell/overview.php>.

Ladock, Jason. "Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Therapy." HealthGuidance. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. <http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/12366/1/Pros-and-Cons-of-Stem-Cell-Therapy.html>.