Stem cell treatment has made leaps and bounds in research and applied medicine. While it remains a controversial issue, it is still phenomenally promising in the field of curing serious diseases.
But what exactly are stem cells? Where do they come from and how are we using them as treatment in sick human beings? And why are some people against it?
Let’s take a look.
How It Works
Stem cells are the body’s first cells – the master cells in which all the cells in the body come from.
Scientists grow these stem cells in the laboratory. These divide into daughter cells (more stem cells) or they can evolve into specialized cells, such as brain, heart, or muscle cells.
Once they become specialized, they are introduced into the patient. These healthy specialized stem cells can help to repair damaged tissue in that organ or regenerate healthy cells. We can then implant these specialized cells into a person. For example, if the person has heart disease, the cells could be injected into the heart muscle.
Regenerative Medicine
The field of regenerative medicine has become revolutionized with stem cell research and treatment.
Scientists create healthy stem cells and introduce them into the body to replace diseased cells. With specialized stem cells, these can help to repair diseased cells or regenerate healthy ones in damaged tissues.
With organ donation being limited, stem cell therapy offers the promise of increased opportunities for organ transplantation as healthy cells can be introduced in lieu of a full healthy donor organ.
Adult Stem Cells
Adult stem cells are found in adult tissue such as bone marrow or fat.
These cells are in small numbers and can potentially evolve into specialized cells. For example, bone marrow has stem cells that are able to become a heart cell.
The medical field is in early phase clinical trials, specifically in patients with neurological diseases and heart disease.
Scientists have also been using genetic reprogramming to physically alter adult cells so that their properties mimic embryonic stem cells. This programming is done by altering the genetics of adult cells. The benefit is that it may prevent immune system rejection of new stem cells, if scientists introduce reprogrammed adult stem cells. Clinical trials are still in the works.
Its Limitations
It’s a simple fact that we covet embryonic stem cells because of its versatility and superior quality. We simply cannot alter adult stem cells to create every single cell type that embryonic stem cells can.
Ultimately, this limits the number of diseases we can treat with adult stem cells. Adults have also exposed their bodies’ stem cells to the toxicities of the environment and lastly, there is still the potential for cell replication errors.
The Great Debate
Stem cell treatment is still a controversy because we obtain the cells from embryos that are anywhere from three to five days old. We generate these blastocysts from a woman’s fertilized egg.
The embryos that scientists use in research and applied medical treatments are the ones that a mother decides not to implant in the uterus. Donors give consent to use these embryos in the laboratory for these purposes.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) came out with specific guidelines, stating that the medical industry may only take embryonic stem cells from in-vitro fertilization. It must be used for research and treatment only once a mother decides that these embryos will not be needed for human fertilization.
Despite the guidelines, we derive these stem cells from human embryos and therefore it remains a heated topic of debate.
The Benefits
With regenerative medicine’s promise on the horizon, the medical field is targeting patients with type 1 diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, cancer and stroke, heart disease, burn victims, and those with spinal cord injuries and osteoarthritis.
Researchers and scientists alike are gaining a better understanding of these diseases by observing how stem cells evolve to become certain organs.
They are also studying new drug development by altering human stem cells into specific cells and testing them with drugs for efficacy. This is a huge field of study right now.
Scientists have also discovered stem cells in both amniotic fluid and umbilical cord blood. They are currently testing its ability to evolve into specialized cells.
With these stem cells, doctors have successfully performed bone marrow transplants to counter the effects of chemotherapy, cancer, blood-related diseases like leukemia and lymphoma, and heart failure.
The Risks
While treatments are currently changing the face of medicine, the risks remain.
Researchers must be careful that the stem cells evolve into the desired specialized. Irregular cell growth is also a risk, or spontaneous cell specialization into an undesired cell – such as generating a heart cell instead of a brain cell.
The other risk that still remains is an unwanted immune response in a recipient patient’s body. Sometimes the immune system will not recognize the introduction of stem cells properly and this triggers it to attack them as foreign bodies.
Researchers are heavily experimenting with both embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells in hopes of revolutionizing regenerative medicine and organ transplantation.
While stem cell treatment is controversial and still in the stages of becoming great, it is a promising area of study and has the potential to cure several debilitating and deadly diseases.