First discovered in 1961 by James Till and Ernest McCulloh, stem cells have become amongst the most intriguing biotechnologies due to their role in the health care industry. At their core, stem cells are described as cells that are yet to differentiate, divide and make several copies. Stem cells have also been described as the raw materials for the body, since they generate all other cells, each with a specialized function in the body. Since stem cells’ discovery, there has been a promising future for the health care industry. Partly because stem cells can be used in numerous health conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer among others. Stem cells’ use, however, has not been without controversies between politicians, netizens, and religious leaders. This research paper focusses on stem cells including types, its use in the health industry, controversies surrounding the biotechnology, its uses and obstacles to be overcome, and the opinions of world leaders regarding the biotechnology.
Types of Stem Cells
The two types of stem cells include embryonic and adult stem cells. (Roubelakis, 2019), reveals that embryonic stem cells are sourced from embryos that have undergone vitro fertilization. Usually, they are donated for research. During the 3 rd , 4 th or 5 th day following fertilization, the blastocyst contains an inner mass of cells that have the potential to generate body tissues. On the other hand, adult stem cells are undifferentiated and capable of renewing themselves or generating new cells to repair dead or damaged tissue. Apart from where they are generated, there are other differences. Roubelakis (2019) reveals that adult stem cells are found in differentiated tissues but are capable of remaining undifferentiated. Embryonic cells on the other hand, are only found layers of the embryo. It is also worth noting that adult stem cells do not differentiate and are while embryonic stem cells differentiate into numerous cells hence, they are pluripotent
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Bhartiya (2017) indicates that a pluripotent stem cell forms germ of layers though not extraembryonic as the placenta. Embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells are examples of pluripotent stem cells. The latter are engineered in the laboratory through combination of embryonic and other cells. This method of genetic programming is novel will require more research before being used in clinical therapies. Stem cells are used in the treatment of various diseases and medical conditions.
Uses of Stem Cells to treat Medical Conditions
As stated earlier, stem cell treatment has been well established and is used to treat numerous diseases and conditions. According to (Im & Pavletic, 2020), stem cell is used in the process of transplantation of stem cells that treat conditions such as blood immunity or restoration of the blood following chronic illnesses such a cancer. Statistics reveal that an average of 260,000 people in the United States undergo transplantation annually (Crane, Jeffrey, & Morrison, 2017). Stem cells are also used in skin graft growth for patients who have been severely burnt on large areas of the body. Recently, there has been development of stem cells treatment used for damaged cornea following injuries such as chemical burns. As the architects of structural and functional units of our body, stem cells are the hope for other medical conditions such as Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer among other neurodegenerative diseases. Regardless of a promising future, however, the field has been surrounded with numerous concerns.
Controversies surrounding the use of Stem Cells
Since their discovery, stem cells’ use both for treatment and in research has been controversial. The controversy stems from deriving embryonic stem cells. People hold different beliefs when it comes to human life. For some, human life begins at conception and so an embryo has the right to life just as an adult or a child. To others, life begins when a baby is born. As such, controversy exists due to beliefs surrounding vitro fertilization, contraception, and abortion (Mohammed, 2018). Besides some cultures as well as religions do not support expense of life as a means to some other. The controversies surrounding the use of stem cells has sparked hot debate mainly because of the involvement of human life. As a result of these controversies, at some point embryonic stem cell research had to be banned but later reconsidered following changes in opinions among world leaders and politicians.
Embryonic stem cell research particularly has sparked a political and moral debate between politicians and world leaders. Research reveals that since scholars from the University of Wisconsin announced the harvesting of stem cells donated by fertility clinics, there has been opposition and support from both sides to the extent that the issue became a political and federal agenda (Riley & Merrill, 2019). In 2001, for instance President George Bush banned stem cell research. The Obama administration, however, adjusted some of these restrictions to allow stem cell research. Leaders elsewhere, particularly the Pope of the Catholic church, has since been against stem cell research citing that it is abuse of human life. Another issue facing politicians and world leaders revolves around funding where there are divisions on whether the research should be funded by taxpayers.
Potential uses and Obstacles to be overcome
Stem cells have numerous uses both in basic and clinical research. However, there are equally many technical hurdles between the promise held by stem cells and the actual realization. Embryonic stem cells have the capability to yield information about what occurs during human development particularly the process of differentiation (Zakrzewski et al., 2019). This information could be potentially useful in understanding diseases such as cancer that result from abnormal differentiation. The obstacle, however, is that scientists and scholars alike have not yet fully comprehended the genes that influence stem cell differentiation. Another potential use of stem cell is the generation of tissue that could be use in therapies. This could offer a solution to renewable replacement of cells that could be used to treat conditions such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer, and arthritis among others (Tonk et al., 2020). For the full realization of the potential of stem cells therapies, scientists and scholars alike should be able to manipulate their characteristics which remains an obstacle. Generally, the promise or rather potential of stem cell therapies is exciting but must be overcome through extensive research.
In conclusion, stem cells research is quite promising because of the numerous benefits it will have in the health care industry. Although it is surrounded by controversies and ethical dilemmas, stem cells will be quite resourceful if their potential is fully realized. Furthermore, leaders and politicians alike are beginning to embrace the biotechnology.
References
Bhartiya, D. (2017). Pluripotent stem cells in adult tissues: struggling to be acknowledged over two decades. Stem Cell Reviews and Reports , 13 (6), 713-724.
Roubelakis, M. G. (2019). Introduction to Stem Cell Principles and Biology. In Digestive System Diseases (pp. 7-20). Humana Press, Cham.
Crane, G. M., Jeffery, E., & Morrison, S. J. (2017). Adult haematopoietic stem cell niches. Nature Reviews Immunology , 17 (9), 573.
Im, A., & Pavletic, S. Z. (2020). Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. In Abeloff's Clinical Oncology (pp. 461-469). Content Repository Only!
Mohamed, H. S. (2018). Embryonic Politics: Attitudes about Abortion, Stem Cell Research, and IVF. Politics and Religion , 11 (3), 459-497.
Riley, M. F., & Merrill, R. (2019). Regulating Reproductive Genetics. Science and Technology Law Review , 6 .
Tonk, C. H., Witzler, M., Schulze, M., & Tobiasch, E. (2020). Mesenchymal Stem Cells. In Essential Current Concepts in Stem Cell Biology (pp. 21-39). Springer, Cham.
Zakrzewski, W., Dobrzyński, M., Szymonowicz, M., & Rybak, Z. (2019). Stem cells: past, present, and future. Stem cell research & therapy , 10 (1), 1-22.
