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^{Stem Cell Research is a term that defined as research on stem cells and their use in medicine. Although it has become a widely popular practice, it has a lot of controversy on whether is an ethical practice or non-ethical.}

Stem Cell Research Background

^{Stem Cell Research is a term that defined as research on stem cells and their use in medicine. Stem Cell research was developed in the United States and has been around since 1995. The first successful use of stem cells was in 1998 by a man named James Thomson, who is known as the "father" of stem cell research. Stem cell research is used to help treat a vast amount of diseases and as well as testing new drugs. As it has been tested and become more popular, stem cell research have become controversial and very two sided among scientists and regular people. It is because of the ongoing controversy that it has not become a fully accepted practice.}

James Thomson

James Thomson was born in Oak Park, Illinois. He is a John D. MacArthur Professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. James Thomson is a Adjunct Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and serves as the Director of Regenerative Biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research. He conducts research in campus laboratories at both UW-Madison and UCSB.[6] Thomson received a Bachelor of science degree in biophysics from the University of Illinois in 1981, a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1985 from the University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988, and was board certified in veterinary pathology in 1995. His doctoral thesis, conducted under the supervision of Davor Solter at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, involved understanding genetic imprinting in early mammalian development.[6]

Pioneering Stem Cell Research

James Thomson is widely considered a pioneer in the field of stem cell research because in 1995 he led the first isolation of embryonic stem cell lines from a non-human primate in 1995, and the first successful isolation of human embryonic stem cell lines in 1998.[1]

Stem Cells And Their History

Stem Cells

Stem cells are cells found in multicellular organisms. They retain the ability to renew themselves through mitotic cell division and can differentiate into a diverse range of specialized cell type.[3} Stem cells are very different from other cell types. Stem cells are capable of renewing themselves through cell division, sometimes after long periods of inactivity. Stem Cells can be induced to become tissue or organ-specific cells with special functions. In some organs, such as the gut and bone marrow, stem cells regularly divide to repair and replace worn out or damaged tissues. In other organs, however, such as the pancreas and the heart, stem cells only divide under special conditions.

Until recently, scientists primarily worked with two kinds of stem cells from animals and humans: embryonic stem cells and non-embryonic "somatic" or "adult" stem cells. The functions and characteristics of these cells will be explained in this document. Scientists discovered ways to derive embryonic stem cells from early mouse embryos nearly 30 years ago, in 1981. The detailed study of the biology of mouse stem cells led to the discovery, in 1998, of a method to derive stem cells from human embryos and grow the cells in the laboratory. These cells are called human embryonic stem cells. The embryos used in these studies were created for reproductive purposes through in vitro fertilization procedures. When they were no longer needed for that purpose, they were donated for research with the informed consent of the donor. In 2006, researchers made another breakthrough by identifying conditions that would allow some specialized adult cells to be "reprogrammed" genetically to assume a stem cell-like state. This new type of stem cell, called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), will be discussed in a later section of this document.

Two broad types of mammalian stem cells are embryonic cells that are found in blastocysts and adult stem cells that are found in adult tissues. In a developing embryo, stem cells can differentiate into all of specialized embryonic tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing specialized cells, and also maintain the normal turnover of regenerative organs, such as blood, skin, or intestinal tissues. As stem cells can be grown and transformed into specialized cells with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves through cell culture, their use in medical therapies has been proposed.[3]

Historical Research Findings on Stem Cells

In a major breakthrough in 1908, Russian histologist Alexander Maksimov proposed the term “stem cell” for scientific usage. Scientific evidence of adult neurogenesis in ongoing stem cell activity in the brain was presented by Joseph Altman et al. in 1960. The presence of self-renewing cells in mouse bone marrow was later illustrated in 1963 by McCulloch et al. A lot of work was carried out all around the globe related to stem cells. In 1968, the first successful bone marrow transplant between two siblings was done, which brought a new revolution in medical science. Hematopoietic stem cells were discovered in human cord blood in the year 1978. Martin et al. derived mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) from the inner cell mass in 1981. Gail Martin is attributed for coining the term “embryonic stem cell.” Neural stem cells were cultured in vitro as neurospheres after 11 years in 1992. The first evidence of cancer stem cell was observed in 1997. Leukemia is shown to originate from a hematopoietic stem cell (HSCs). A year later, James Thomson and co-workers at University of Wisconsin–Madison derived the first human ESC line. Several reports of adult stem cell plasticity were published in 2000. The first early human embryo (four- to six-cell stage) was cloned by scientists at Advanced Cell Technology for the purpose of generating ESCs.[3]

Argument Supporting Stem Cell Research

The opposing view argues that embryonic stem cell research holds great promise for understanding and curing diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, and other debilitating conditions. Development from a fertilized egg into to baby is a continuous process and any attempt to pinpoint when personhood begins is arbitrary. A human embryo is a human being in the embryonic stage, just as an infant is a human being in the infant stage. Although an embryo does not currently have the characteristics of a person, it will become a person and should be given the respect and dignity of a person.[7]

Argument Against Stem Cell Research

Opponents argue that the research is unethical, because deriving the stem cells destroys the blastocyst, an unimplanted human embryo at the sixth to eighth day of development. An early embryo that has not yet implanted into the uterus does not have the psychological, emotional or physical properties that we associate with being a person. It therefore does not have any interests to be protected and we can use it for the benefit of patients (who ARE persons). The embryo cannot develop into a child without being transferred to a woman’s uterus. It needs external help to develop. Even then, the probability that embryos used for in vitrofertilization will develop into full-term successful births is low. Something that could potentially become a person should not be treated as if it actually were a person. [7]

References

• 1. Bellis, Mary. "James Thomson - Stem Cell Pioneer." About.com Inventors. About.com, 20 Dec. 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
  
• 2. "Stem Cell Controversy." Stem Cell Controversy. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
  
• 3. Kumar, Rajnish, Anju Sharma, Ashok Kumar Pattnaik, and Pritish Kumar Varadwaj. "Abstract." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 29 Dec. 0005. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
  
• 4. "Frequently Asked Questions." What Are the Potential Uses of Human Stem Cells and the Obstacles That Must Be Overcome before These Potential Uses Will Be Realized? [Stem Cell Information]. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
  
• 5. "Harvard Stem Cell Institute." Examining the Ethics of Embryonic Stem Cell Research: A Conversation with HSCI's Michael J. Sandel, DPhil. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
  
• 6. "James A. Thomson, V.M.D, Ph.D." James Thomson Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
  
• 7. "Embryonic Stem Cell Research: An Ethical Dilemma | Europe's Stem Cell Hub | EuroStemCell." EuroStemCell. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.