The Disadvantages And Advantages Of Adult Stem Cells
Adult stem cells can be found in bone marrow, placentas, the umbilical cord, the spinal cord and numerous other tissues. Until recently, it was believed that stem cells adult derived could only create similar cells, although scientists can now reprogram genes within adult stem cells to act like protean embryonic stem cells, which can develop into more than 200 types of tissues. The safety of such techniques is still being studied, but scientists are hopeful that they’ll be able to treat everything from Parkinson’s and diabetes to heart disease and osteoporosis with stem cell therapies.
There are some advantages to using adult stem cells over embryo-derived stem cells. For one, adult cells are easier to harvest, as they can come from skin, muscle, bone marrow and fat. Often those treated with their own stem cells will not suffer immune system rejection. It’s also easier to encourage these already specialized cells to differentiate the way the scientists want them to, which is impressive considering they’re still not 100% sure what causes a cell to become a certain organ or tissue. Lastly, donated adult stemcells clear up the stem cell controversy surrounding the destruction of human embryos in the name of science.
Mice are not people. We know this. Even so, it’s hard not be excited that the first mouse has successfully regrown muscles and regenerated damaged tissue thanks to adult stem cells. Researchers from the University of New South Wales say the mice were given a gene making them resistant to chemotherapy, which clears out damaged cells and encourages new stem cells to take hold. “What has been the realm of science fiction is looking more and more like the medicine of the future,” said Peter Gunning, one of the study’s co-authors.
Adult stem cells can be used in many future cures, but there are also many hoops to jump through first. The danger of tumors is hard to escape, for instance, since scientists are still learning about the switches that turn gene expression and cellular activity on and off. Another issue is maintaining purity in stem cell cultures. Modern techniques in mouse stem cells have achieved just an 80% purity, which is not suitable for cellular transplanting into humans. If the transplant is impure, then germ layers may also be administered and cancerous tumors can emerge.
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