What Do Stem Cell Research Facilities Do And Why Is It So Important

By Christopher Wood


Understanding the latest breakthroughs in medical technology can be difficult. It may seem exciting as first, although there seem to be many who object to some of the breakthroughs for religious, ethical, and moral reasons. The compelling reasons for why stem cell research facilities are so important to our future is easier to comprehend when it's broken down.

First you have to know what stem cells are. Simply put these are base cells that generate cells with special functions. It is possible, in a laboratory to divide these base cells into what is called daughter cells. The daughter cells either create more base cells, called self-renewal, or they will be cells, called differentiation, that have more special functions, like brain cells, blood, bone, and heart muscle cells. The stems are the only cells in the body capable of generating new types of cells naturally.

By watching these cells grow, researchers can start to understand how diseases develop. Regenerative medicine is the science of replacing or regenerating human cells in order to restore their normal function. Stems can be used to create specific cells that will repair or regenerate tissue that has become diseased or has been damaged.

There are any number of diseases, that don't currently have cures, that might be eradicated. These include type 1 diabetes, cancer, spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and strokes, among many others. Transplants have the potential of becoming viable with the use of new tissue that is grown from stems. Researchers are working on applications that may be useful for regenerative and transplant medicine.

Researchers can use the stems to test new drugs. Instead of using humans as guinea pigs, researchers can these cells to study how safe they are for human use and how well they work. Cardiac toxicity tests are showing great promise.

Researchers are studying how well stems, that are programmed to turn into cells specific to tissue, might be for new drug testing. To get the utmost accuracy, the cells must be programmed to mimic the types of cells the new drugs are targeting. For example, tests made on blood cells might show what kind of effect new drugs will have on them.

Scientists obtain stems from various sources, some of them controversial. They harvest embryonic cells from embryos only a new days old for instance. These cells are the most desired because they are able to divide into stems and will also divide into every other cell that's found in the body. Harvesting embryo cells are what many individuals find so problematic.

Adult stems can be altered to replicate the properties found in embryonic cells. Researchers have learned how to alter the genes in adult cells to mimic embryonic stems with the use of genetic reprogramming. This new technique may help prevent the immune system from rejecting new cells although it is still unknown whether or not it will adversely affect the human body.




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