Stem Cells

Stem Cells

Stem Cells
Research shows that using adult stem cells instead of embryonic stem cells provides the same benefit in curing injury and disease. Stem cells are a large focus of study in today’s biomedical world. Stem cells are cells that exist in an undifferentiated state, and transform into differing tissue types depending on what the cells surrounding them are. The different types of stem cells have the ability to repair many classes of damaged human tissue.
Scientists use two different types of stem cells, Embryonic Stem Cells (ESC) and adult stem cells. Unfortunately, there is a dark side to the ESC. To obtain these cells from embryos will ultimately kill it. By definition, the acquisition of the ESC includes performing an abortion. This has created a lot of controversy in the public world, where abortion is such a hot topic that politicians are hesitant to take either side. With this option now available in the medical world, everyone involved with this topic must make a difficult ethical decision: whether or not saving existing life is worth the termination of potential future life. This is where adult stem cells come into play. Adult stem cells essentially provide the same benefit in saving lives as embryonic stem cells without the controversial effects.
Besides the ethical point, adult cells are easier to manage. They are more responsive to the environment they are put into. Embryonic stem cells injected under the skin may spontaneously differentiate into all types of tissue. Adult bone marrow cells, however, produce the desired type. Stem Cell Researcher Evan Snyder of the Children’s Hospital in Boston points out, “You don’t want teeth or bone in your brain. You don’t want muscle in you liver,” (Ruse p. 57) thus supporting further research in adult cells, most notably those from the bone marrow.
Adult stem cells hold a distinct advantage in that a patient's own cells are identified, isolated, grown and transplanted back into the patient. The recipient's...