ipl-logo

Is Stem Cell Research Good Or Bad

1157 Words5 Pages

Stem cell research – a blessing or risky business?
Stem cell research is an ever-growing area of science. It is the future of medicine. There are plenty of experiments going on around the topic of stem cells and how they could be used in medicine, but are there any actually realistic expectations or just imagination and hopefulness considering stem cell research? In this essay the questions what are stem cells, what are they used for and what are the possibilities and downsides of stem cell research will be addressed and discussed. The main idea is to discuss the question “Stem cell research – a blessing or risky business?” and provide possible answers for it. Firstly stem cells are discussed in general, then moving on to stem cell research …show more content…

This was the year when the first successful bone marrow transplant was performed in New York by Dr. Thomas [4, 5]. The bone marrow is the substance inside the bones which make all the blood cells. The idea was that the donator and the patient were identical twins, so they shared the same genetics. The patient had leukemia, and he had been given high doses of chemotherapy. High doses of chemo kill your bone marrow, and basically this means that you cannot make any blood cells. In the 1956 case doctors took bone marrow from a donor, in that case the identical twin and that bone marrow was guided back into the patient’s bloodstream and from there back to the bones [6].
From there the stem cell research has been ascending. In the 60’s it was discovered that bone marrow contains at least two kinds of stem cells and Brits manages to fertilize a human egg in a test tube. This method was called the IVF method. In 1978 first baby that was fertilized in a test tube was born. Also in 1978 blood stem cells were discovered in human umbilical cord blood.
In the 80’s scientist managed to isolate pluripotent stem cells and also the PGD method where a stem cell can be removed from an embryo and tested for inherited diseases was invented …show more content…

These stem cell transplants are used to cure in addition to leukemia also for example lymphoma and myeloma. All around the world people can donate their stem cells to be used as a transplant. The goal of these transplants is to replace the cancer cells with new, healthy stem cells. For example in Finland there are yearly 20-40 people of whom stem cells are collected from. Over half of the patients that have gotten a transplant through Finland’s Veripalvelu have been cured. Stem cells can be collected in two ways: either from the donor’s bloodstream or bone marrow

Open Document