Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research | Adult Cells

Some of you might know that the State of California has a stem-cell institute (obviously for exploring the Pros of Stem Cell Research). But, as a state run institute, it is of course subject to the occasional audit from the state. It has come under criticism for being a little too liberal with it’s spending. The institute for stem cell research had very vague policies that led to abuse in travel and other expenses. These include chauffeured rental cars, lavish lunches, longer vacation and first-class airfare. They’re also under fire for not seeking competitive bids for services rendered to the research institute.

Honestly, I’m not sure how this affects the Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research, but it could potentially affect the bureaucracy over policies for state run (or even federally managed) stem cell research institutes. It seems like theres always someone that does stupid stuff that makes everything more of a headache for everyone else.

I first read about the story here.

I thought it was really cool when they could get stem cells from umbilical cord blood, but this is huge. Researchers from both Wake Forest University and Harvard University have discovered stem cells, more specifically embryonic stem cells, in amniotic fluid. As many of your might know, the debate over the pros and cons of stem cell research is less like a list, and really covers two issues.

1) Is the use of embryonic stem cells in research morally appropriate (many believe that destroying an embryo to obtain these stem cells is on par with abortion)

2) Do Adult Stem Cells really have the same potential for developments as Embryonic Stem Cells?

While you will talk with many people who disagree on both, could it be that this new find will completely get rid of the meat of the debate. Could it be that both Adult and Embryonic Stem Cells can be researched without these moral questions and we can really find out which hast the most potential?

Researchers are still not certain whether or not stem cells found in amniotic fluid have the same capabilities as the embryonic stem cells that we would normally think of. But, either way it is definitely an exciting idea.  This could affect heart disease, diabetes, (both types of diabetes) and other illnesses as well.

For more information read about it in the Washington Post.

So a lot of us have either given or received blood from blood bank. The Red Cross and similar organizations literally gather thousands of pints of blood to give to those who have special needs. Many college students have even stayed alive by donating plasma. But, has anyone ever thought about a Public Umbilical Cord Bank?

Many new parents have heard about Umbilical Cord Blood Banking and Registries. But, it’s pretty expensive to do, so a lot of that blood just gets thrown away. The average cost right now is about $1500 with an annual fee of about $100. For those parents who don’t have as much money as they might want, they would probably rather put that in a college fund or the like. But, the government recently donated money for 6 banks to store public cord blood. The donor’s will wave their rights to using the blood and it will be used for a bank. This way, just like donating your blood, those who meet the given criteria can use your stem cells for their benefit. It is a really good idea. Preserving your cord blood costs a lot and you might never even use it. But this way when you need it, you should be able to get it, and every new child can donate without any real loss to themselves. A pretty cool idea if you ask me. This is a definite Pro in the Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research.

I am always amazed at what stem cell research has done so far and the amazing potential it still seems to have. From cures to heart defects to taking anti-cancer drugs to cancer cells, it appears that stem cell research can do everything. Again, one of the Pros in the Pros and Cons of Adult Stem Cell Research.
It is widely hoped that neural stem cells will eventually be useful for replacing nerves damaged by degenerative diseases like Alzheimer disease and multiple sclerosis. But there may also be another use for such stem cells–delivering anti-cancer drugs to cancer cells.

read more | digg story

So you think your an expert on stem cell research? You think you know about all of the Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research? You must know everything, that we can get adult stem cells from hair follicles and umbilical cord blood. Well, for those of you who think that, and for those of you who don’t, try taking the stem cell research quiz. It’s a little over five minutes long, but I think it was pretty good. Leave a comment, let me know how you did.

Many of us didn’t know this, be sort of assume that a stem cell only shows exists in “animals.” We also believe that the only two kinds of stem cells are adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells because of the debate over the Pros and Cons of Stem Cells. But you would be surprised to know that there is a whole list of different kinds of stem cells. One of these kinds of stem cells are cancer stem cells.

The article that I read discusses notes that under 2 sweeps of a standard radiation regiment only 20% of normal breast cancer cells are still living. On the other hand, twice that number of stem cells live. Some scientists believe that these are the most important types of cells to destroy, because of their ability to become other types of cells.

Scientists suppose that because of the stem cells ability to alter it’s DNA, that the cells aren’t in as much danger of their DNA changing. Unfortunately there hasn’t been too much research on this. But this is an exciting find that should hopefully spur more of it.

Feel free to leave your comments and let us know what you think about the Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research Blog.

In doing a little bit of research of my own, I found a pretty cool sight today that taught about stem cells via flash animation. So if my blog, the Pros and Cons of Stem Cell Research, doesn’t answers some of the questions that you might have about stem cells (if you have any, or have something you would like me to blog about, please let me know), I sill realize that some of your visual learners. So I saw this and thought that the readers would want to know more about it. It is actually an adobe flash program (which means that you might need an adobe flash player) that shows what a stem cell would sort of do to turn into other types of cells. For those of you whare are doing stem cell research it should be a good ifnd. It looks like they also expand on it a little to talk about Embryonic or Adult Stem Cells Research. I’m not sure which. So please, take a look. And again, let me know if you want me to blog on anything.

A lot of us hear about stem cell research, and we know that there is a controversy, but we don’t really even know what the controversy is over. So what is a stem cell?

Stem cell research started primarily with the findings of two Canadian Scientists in 1957. Stem cells are a certain type of cell common to all multi-cellular organisms, and by definition meet two criteria. First, they must possess the trait of self-renewal. They must be able to divide multiple times, while remaining in the same state after each division? And second, they must be able to turn into multiple other types of cells.

Well, Stem cells fall into two different categories. Embryonic Stem Cells and Adult Stem Cells.

Embryonic Stem Cells come from blastocysts. A blastocyst is an early stage embryo (about 4 to 5 days old in humans and consisting of 50-150 cells total). Embryonic Stem Cells have the ability to develop into more than 200 types of adult cells when given the proper stimulation for a specific cell type. Some favor research of an embryonic stem cell because of their long proven ability to become other types of cells.

Adult Stem Cells are stem cells that we would have after we are born. The name is a little misleading, but Adult Stem Cells are also found in children, and simply imply the maturity of the stem cell. In fact, one of the main ways that we obtain adult stem cells today is from the umbilical cord blood when a new baby is born. Previously, many believed that adult stem cells didn’t have the same ability to transform into other types of cells. But, recently that belief has been changed. Scientists believe that it possesses all of the abilities of Embryonic Stem Cells in terms of becoming other types of cells. Adult Stem cells also have a much longer track record of being used in treatments, and are therefore preferred by many.

So, now you know what a stem cell is. From now on when you hear about the debate, you’ll at least know what they’re talking about.