The Basics of Stem Cells
The very mention of the words “stem cell” perk up everyone’s ears. Although this topic is so controversial and exciting, do most people understand what stem cells are? This is a basic guide to stem cells with all the definitions, abbreviations, and applications you need to know to carry on a conversation about stem cell development, research, or controversy.
Cells - The Basic Unit of Life
Starting from the beginning, cells are the basic unit of all life. They contain DNA (deoxribonucleaic acid), which is all of the cell’s genetic material. They also have the ability to undergo cell division and replication, which creates two daughter cells with identical DNA. There are somatic cells and germline cells. Somatic cells make up every part of your body from your eyes, to your skin, to your heart. Somatic cells are also the type of cells that cancer research uses and the types of cells that were used in Dolly, the sheep clone. Germline cells are sex cells that are used in sexual reproduction with females and males carying different types. When a female germline cell (ova) and a male germline cell (spermatazoa) combine during sexual reproduction, they form a zygote. The zygote then goes through several divisions (showed below) to form into a ball of pluripotent cells called stem cells.
Enter Stem Cells…
The yellow cells in the figure above are pluripotent stem cells, which means these cells have much potential to differentiate into any type of somatic cell in the body. Differentiation is a developmental process by which unguided cells “turn into” a specific somatic cell type, like a blood cell or a nerve cell. During embryonic development, the perfect amounts of stem cells differentiate into every type of tissue to create all of the wonderful organs in our body as demonstrated below. While healthy (non-cancerous) cells in the body go through only about 50 replication cycles and then naturally kill themselves (to prevent excessive genetic mutations), stem cell have the capacity to theoretically divide forever. They can go on through millions and billions of cycles developing new cells with no limit, if supplied with the proper environment.
Types of Stem Cells
There are three main types of stem cells which are all obtained differently, have diverse applications, and face various controversies.
Embryonic Stem (ES) Cells can be obtained from the early developing stages of an embryo as shown in the first figure with a blastocyst. Stem cells obtained from this newly developed bundle of cells have the full potential to differentiate into absolutely, positively 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, spinal cord injury, and organ replacements. These are the types of stem cells that are under constant 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.
Adult Stem Cells can be obtained from full-grown adults, but not all of their cells are stem cells because the majority of them have already differentiated. 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. A major controversy in adult stem cell research has been cloning and the effects of cloning. The biggest question that is pending is how far people will go with cloning as fears rise such as in the book Brave New World and the movie The Island. Cloning is limited to animal use only and it is strictly and absolutely unlawful to apply to human use…for now.
Umbilical Cord Stem Cells can be obtained from the umbilical cord of a new born baby. Millions of multipotent (not as much potential as pluripotent, but more potential than differentiated cells) stem cells lie in the umbilical cord and the blood in it. These stem cells can be saved in a stem cell bank and later used for bone marrow, anemia, and cancer treatments. There is not much wide-spread controversy in these types of stem cells because the umbilical cord is usually thrown away after child birth. Therefore this stem cell bank idea utilizes trash and turns it into a potential life saver.
More information on stem cells can be obtained from National Institutes of Health, The White House’s Stem Cell Fact Sheet, TIME/CNN, and The University of California, Irvine.
-Amy Shah
April 30th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Wonderful. I will be needing some replacement parts later.
April 30th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
You missed the biggest point of why you can’t use differentiated cells. Simply, the D.N.A. in a differentiated cell is irreversibly turned off to it’s specific needs. A liver cell only has non-liver D.N.A. turned off, etc.
April 30th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
Perfect, I found this article so easy to read and follow.
May 1st, 2007 at 12:43 am
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May 1st, 2007 at 2:00 am
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May 1st, 2007 at 8:55 am
David, that is not really true.
You can reprogram somatic cells into stem cells again.
Take a look:
http://www.reproduction-online.org/cgi/content/full/132/5/709
May 1st, 2007 at 10:49 am
That is a really interesting summary. Thanks! I had no idea (although I hear about stem cells all the time). You should consider putting an even more concise version on ListAfterList.com. There are already over 6000 other lists on there.
Check it out…
http://www.ListAfterList.com
May 1st, 2007 at 4:50 pm
That was a very information overview of stem cells. I’ve also read through some of your other blog entries and I’ll probably be a regular visitor. So much information presented in a simple and concise way. it is much appreciated.
That is all.
B
May 2nd, 2007 at 12:27 am
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May 3rd, 2007 at 5:50 am
Fantastic read. The entire website. As a Leukaemia sufferer (in remission) my direction in career path is now heading towards bio-medicine. Fantastic read trully. Well done and thanks Amy. Keep it up!
May 4th, 2007 at 11:32 am
The next question is, “By what process are stem cells used to cure a disease?” or “How do stem cells contribute to curing disease?” I’m a supporter of stem cell research, by the way. Thanks to http://www.yourdrum.com for the link.
May 6th, 2007 at 1:28 am
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April 16th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
I usually do not comment on blog posts but I found this quite interesting, so here goes. Thanks! Regards, P.
February 17th, 2010 at 12:32 am
Gripping, I concord with your point of view.
September 1st, 2010 at 5:26 am
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