Xavier TanGrade 9

BiologyStem Cells One World Essay

Beijing BISS International SchoolSchool Code: 1123

Date Submitted

One  World  Essay

One  World  Essay

Stem Cells

Did you know that stem cells have the ability to do almost anything a body can? They can transform themselves into blood cells, marrow cells, brain cells and even embryo cells! They are totipotent which means that they are able to transform into any cell. Stem cells can help minimize cancer symptoms and potentially kill cancer rather than going through a series of radioactive treatment. However, there are ethical and economical issues that concern the use of stem cells, as well as cultural and personal opinions, besides it also take a lot of finance to help support the researches and investigation. Stem cells are cells that do not have a specific job in the body. Stem cells are something you call ‘starter’ or special cell that are undifferentiated type of cell. Therefore, they can change and transform to whatever cell is needed, which means that they can replace other forms of treatments. Stem cells are in our bodies ever since we were born as embryos and up until the adult body. Research shows that they can be developed without them being in a body, instead from a controlled environment. Moreover, they are currently being researched on how to use their abilities. They are totipotent which makes them able to divide into various cell types.

Adult stem cells exist in small amounts in several tissues in the body, helping maintain and repair those tissues. (Adult stem cells cannot be substitutes for embryonic stem cells, JDRF). Stem cells are similar to the usual cells in our body; they have been in our bodies since we were born. They can be both extracted from the body, specifically from the bone marrow. They can divide themselves into daughter cells, which prevents us from extracting anymore from the bone marrow. Scientists place the one cell that they extracted from the bone marrow into a small dish with a type of liquid with nutrients in it. This helps the cell to divide. They are already being used in treatments for over one hundred diseases and conditions(bio-medicine, 2009).

Stem cells have the advantage of doing almost anything we want them to do for our body. They can become embryonic cells, which forms babies. This makes it easier for both couples that are unable to have babies and bisexual couples who want to start a family. Stem cells are able to reduce cancer risks or harmful cells that threaten your body. This means that they can be an alternative treatment for cancer, as treatment for cancer is expensive yet dangerous to the body because of the radiation.

Although stem cells have a lot of advantages, they have an equal amount of disadvantages. Stem cell research is costly. Most governments in the world do not fund the research due to the lack of evidence that it would be a good cause. Lastly, adult stem cells are hard to isolate and identify. Moreover, stem cell treatment maybe more expensive due to the rare solutions available, there are not many people who would resort to a new treatment.

One  World  Essay

Stem  cells  able  to  be  any  cell  in  our  body.  The Totipotent stem cells come form the early embryos. These stem cells can create full

organisms, although they are the most controversial type of stem cell. (top)

Ethical issues involve a lot decision making, as well as thinking for the best. Stem cell research and treatment require a huge amount of time and thinking due to the expenses and the results after it.

Couples that are unable to produce offspring can resort to having embryonic stem cells, which is a solution for having a baby. This means that adoption wouldn’t be the only solution. This also means that cloning would be possible in the near future, with experiments done successfully on various animals. Cloning yourself, or at least a part of your body organs is helpful because then you wouldn’t worry too much about your body accepting the organ. Both of these functions of stem cell use a basic reproduction cycle. Scientists put the one cell into a small dish with nutrients and water to let it divide. This one cell organism develops into either an organ or an embryonic cell that is totipotent.

Using stem cells as an alternate route may not be the ideal situation for some couples, as they would imagine a different baby when they receive it. This is due to the cause of using stem cells to create a baby in the lab. For example, in 1998 an embryonic stem cell was finally developed in a lab. However the scientists at the lab in charge of the experiment due to suspicion of other cells developing instead. (ABC News, 2005)

An evidence of this issue would be that many countries have brought this issue up to court due to the many incidents that have occurred during the past. Some scientists believed that stem cells can be programmed to grow into cancer cells, even though they aren’t supposed to. These cases exists, as scientists have tested this with lung cancer patients. They put the cancer cells with the newly bred stem cells, which effected the stem cells. They found out that the cancer cells infiltrated the stem cells, ending up creating more cancer cells.

Ethical issues can never be solved, only to be decided by the people themselves. Stem cell research have various advantages as well as disadvantages, just the fact that it can be an embryonic multipotent cell and totipotent cell already makes it a difficult decision.

The second one world issue is economics.Stem cell research requires a huge amount of consistent funding to keep the research going. This funding used to research the effects and techniques of cloning both animals and humans. Cloning animals would mean that we would have more livestock to feed the population. Other purposes for the funding would be researching embryonic cells. Scientists would then be able to research more on how to keep the embryo alive in a lab. Finally, they would also be able to learn how to prevent the stem cells from being reprogrammed to being cancer cells.

Corruption may occur with the money used for research. As said above, stem cell research would require constant funding of research and it isn’t cheap. Adding to the fact that stem cells are vulnerable to reprogramming by cancer cells, there may not be a solution for that.

Economical issues are tough to decide. In a long term, stem cell research may prove useful as reprogramming maybe reversed. In a short run, stem cell research may not have as good as a result but would be able to find out how to clone as we are getting close to perfecting the skills.

Although many issues are raised when stem cells are concerned, it maybe the solution to may treatments for various diseases and illness such as cancer, Lou Gehrig’s disease, Alzheimer’s and many other incurable diseases. The treatment would most likely cure the disease and be available in the near future, however it might be expensive. Stem cell treatment wouldn’t be available for the poor and needy, and it would still depend solely on the government’s ability to fund the research. Hence, stem cell research should be available for all people around the world.

One  World  Essay

Bibliography:

ABC news. "Fast Facts on Stem Cells - ABC News."ABCNews.com: Daily News, Breaking News and Video Broadcasts - ABC News. National Institutes of Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 24 May 2005. Web. 5 Sept. 2011. <http://abcnews.go.com/health/us/story?id=785936>.

Boston, David. "Information on Stem Cells | eHow.com." eHow | How to Videos, Articles & More - Trusted Advice for the Curious Life | eHow.com. N.p., 14 Mar. 2010. Web. 5 Sept. 2011. <http://www.ehow.com/about_4841824_information-stem-cells.html>.

Dival, William . "Stem Cell Basics [Stem Cell Information]." NIH Stem Cell Information Home Page. N.p., 28 Apr. 2009. Web. 5 Sept. 2011. <http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/b

Gifford, David. "Tell Me About Stem Cells." Tell Me About Stem Cells. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Sept. 2011. <http://www.tellmeaboutstemcells.org/>.

Genetic Science Learning Center (2011, January 27) Stem Cells. Learn.Genetics. Retrieved September 5, 2011, from http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/stemcells/

"Stem Cell Basics [Stem Cell Information]." NIH Stem Cell Information Home Page.N.p., 28 Apr. 2009. Web. 6 Sept. 2011. <http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics>.

”What are Stem Cells?."Medical News Today: Health News. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Sept.2011. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/stem_cell/>http://www.jdrf.org/files/legislative_action/2005_Stem_Cell_Facts_Sheets/5.AdultLimitations.pdf

"Stem cell." Bio-Medicine - latest biology and medical news/technology. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-definition/Stem_cell/>.

http://townipproject.wikispaces.com/Stem+Cell+Research

One  World  Essay