Ethical Issues Concerning Stem Cell Research And Therapy

Introduction

Stem cell research and therapy plays an imperative part in making advances and treatments in the medical industry. Stem cells are significantly beneficial due to their undifferentiated nature as well as their ability to become specialised and give rise to specific target cells. They are able to reveal the origin of illnesses and can be utilised to overtake unhealthy or damaged cells within the body. These cells have the potential to develop into numerous cell types within the body as well as working like an ‘internal repair system’1. Diseases that currently do not have a cure such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes and Parkinson’s can all benefit from stem cell research and therapy. It is hoped that one day a number of fatal and

There are three main types, embryonic, adult and induced pluripotent stem cells. As aforementioned, they are used for a number of effective treatments and research is underway to find out their capacities. This is due to their undifferentiated nature, meaning they are able to be specialised by stem cell biologists to attain the specific characteristics of the cell that is needed through turning on and off the different genes to match the target cell. These undifferentiated cells divide to make copies of themselves that can also be used. They are pluripotent, meaning they can give rise to cells in all three embryonic layers; ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm. Once they are fully differentiated, they are transplanted into patients for treatment. This ability heavily increases their value in the medical industry through the form of stem cell therapy. An example of a disease that can be treated with stem cell transplants is

This major breakthrough in the biomedical field created uproar, both negative and positive. Supporters of this research became very hopeful that it would lead to cures and lifesaving treatment for diseases like Parkinson’s disease, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Current research is going into the cause of specific genetic disorders and defects, why and how certain diseases occur and why do particular cells develop into cancerous cells. This leads to a better understanding of different diseases and illnesses. It occurs in universities, hospitals and laboratories worldwide to find out and explore how stem cells can turn into different specialised cells. The hope is that researchers will find a way to ‘direct the differentiation of embryonic stem cells’ which may be utilised to treat particular illnesses. Besides researching what type of cells they can be specialised into, they are also used at the California’s Stem Cell Agency for different research projects; for example, altering the genetic code of stem cells to make them immune or resistant to different diseases. As well as this, researchers use stem cells to safely trial new medication which eradicates the need to test on human or animal