Eliminating the Stem Cell Controversy
The most pluripotent of all stem cells, embryonic stem cells, are obtained from the inner mass of the early developing stages of an embryo (as shown in the figure below with a blastocyst). Stem cells obtained from this newly developed bundle of cells have the full potential to differentiate into absolutely anything in the human body. Many scientists believe that embryonic stem cell research could lead to therapies that have the potential to cure at least 120 million Americans. They believe that these cells have the potential to cure thousands of disorders and biomedical problems such as Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease and spinal cord injury. Many tissue engineers also believe that stem cells can lead to artificial organ replacements, which would be a high priority on the market due to the shortage of organ donors in the United States. These are the types of cells that bring about the stem cell controversy because they are taken from a five to six day old embryo. President Bush has legalized approximately 60 genetically diverse stem cell lines that can legally be used in research laboratories in the United States. The constant struggle between science, the government, and religion is at the pinnacle of this controversy.
Dr. Shahin Rafii and his team from Howard Hughes Medical Institute have been fighting for ten years to eliminate the stem cell controversy by utilizing adult stem cells. Adult stem cells can be obtained from full-grown adults rather than newly conceived embryos, but not all of their cells are stem cells because the majority of them have already differentiated into specific tissue types. Therefore, stem cells have to be found in special parts of the body where they have been saved and undifferentiated, like in bone marrow or early stages of tissue development. These cells are not fully pluripotent and (so far) have only been able to differentiate into a limited number of tissues. However they have been used for various applications such as cloning, trying to cure diabetes, and artificial blood. Dr. Rafii and his team have successfully reprogrammed adult stem cells from male mice’s testes into functional blood vessels and contractile cardiac tissue, which can aid in organ regeneration studies. They utilized spermatogonial progenitor cells and reprogrammed them to form multipotent adult spermatogonial-derived stem cells. They hypothesize that further research will lead to similar results in human adult stem cells, eventually leading to treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. This is the first time that researchers have been able to successfully isolate the small subset of pluripotent stem cells existing in adult testes. The world now awaits the results from human trials and hopes for successful reprogramming, which can eventually lead to several cures.
-Amy
September 27th, 2007 at 4:08 am
If you read the anti-stem cell blogs you’ll see that the religious fanatics that created the controversy are arming up for the next battle. Since pluripotent stem cells (PSC) can become any tissue, they are human life. Even if these doctors are successful, the controversy will not end. The controversy is always misrepresented as being solved by getting PSC from somewhere other than an embryo. The real controversy is that a large portion of America feels it has the right to impose their religious beliefs on everyone. Solving the correct interpretation of the controversy will solve all the issues, not just one.
In addition, no one I know of is working on a cure for diabetes. Since diabetes is caused by the immune system attacking the insulin producing cells, the only way to cure it is to stop the immune system from attacking the cells. Who is working on that? Everything is going towards creating insulin producing cells that will subsequently be attacked by the immune system.
Hope that helps.
November 5th, 2007 at 9:28 am
wrlang is wrong. Pluripotent stem cells aren’t “human life” and no opponents of embryonic stem cell research consider them so. The issue is destroying the embryo to collect the stem cells. No stem cells on their own are an embryo, and so they aren’t human life. There are no opponents to the use of adult stem cells. In fact, you’ll find that religious opponents of embryonic stem cell research are the biggest boosters for adult stem cell research. There is no (and has never been) any religious opposition to adult stem cell research.
One correction to the article above: the decision by President Bush in 2001 was about federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Those 60 lines can be researched using federal funds. It is not illegal to do research on other stem cell lines, only to use federal dollars to do so. The idea that embryonic stem cell research is illegal except on those 60 lines is a myth.
November 6th, 2007 at 7:34 am
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