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Stem Cell Research
By: Hoa Nguyen
Submitted To: Dr. Jaballa M. Hasan
Specific Goal: I would like the audience to understand the positive aspects of stem cell research.
Introduction
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What are stem cells
a. Cells that is able to differentiate into specialized cell types but also retain the ability
to renew themselves through cell division.
What are the two types of stem cells?
a. Embryonic
i. Blastocyst cells divide and eventually develop into all of the tissues and
organs of a human being
ii. can be grown in the laboratory from blastocysts and made to differentiate
into nerve, liver, muscle, blood, and other cells
b. Adult
i. skin, liver, bone marrow, and muscles
ii. Precursor cells have the ability to form many different types of cells, but they
cannot produce more stem cells
iii. rare and more difficult to detect and isolate
Previously has been a controversial issue
a. For
i. Scientists and researchers see almost infinite value in the use of embryonic
stem cell research to understand human development and the growth and
treatment of diseases
b. Against
i. Staunch pro-lifers and most pro-life organizations regard the destruction of
the blastocyst, which is a laboratory-fertilized human egg, to be the murder
of human life
Thesis
The benefits of embryonic stem cell research outweigh the moral costs because of the
innumerable potential benefits it can provide to the medical community.
Body
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Why are people conducting stem cell research?
a. stem cells are unspecialized and can renew themselves through cell divisions for
longer durations of time
b. cells can be manipulated under certain conditions to become any cell that the
scientist encodes them with; liver cell or even a heart cell
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c. Scientists have found that stem cells can grow into 210 types of cells in the human
body.
d. Scientists believe that these cells can be used to cure many diseases that they have
tried to find a cure for
i. spinal cord injuries
ii. multiple sclerosis
iii. diabetes
iv. Parkinson's disease
v. Cancer
vi. Alzheimer's disease
vii. heart disease
viii. Hundreds of rare immune system and genetic disorders and much more…
e. New England Journal of Medicine confirms that stem cells derived from the
umbilical cords of newborn babies are a viable and effective transplant source for
thousands of leukemia patients who have no other treatment option.
i. "As many as 16,000 leukemia patients diagnosed each year require a bone
marrow transplant, but have no matched relative or can't find a match in the
national bone marrow registry," says Mary J. Laughlin, MD, lead author on
the study and hematologist oncologist at Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
and University Hospitals of Cleveland Ireland Cancer Center.
ii. "Umbilical cords that are normally discarded after birth could provide real
hope for these patients."
1. Cord blood transplantation provides leukemia patients with stem
cells, enabling them to produce healthy blood cells in a procedure
previously shown to be highly effective in children with the disease.
2. As a stem cell source, umbilical cord blood is not controversial and
readily available; in fact, cord blood is normally discarded after a
baby's birth
President Bush approves federal support of research with certain embryonic stem cells in
2001
a. In his 8 years of presidency, vetoed 4 times
i. Twice on Stem cell research
b. August 9, 2001, established the President’s Council on Bioethics
New research that eliminates stem cell research controversy
a. Produced stem cells-like from human skin cells
i. Junying Yu of the Genome Center of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin National
Primate Research Center and UW-Madison biologist James Thomson
1. Used viruses to ferry four genes—OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, and
LIN28—into skin cells
2. The Wisconsin team got one pluripotent cell for every 10,000 cells.
ii. Kyoto team (Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University)
1. Also given human cells taken from skin and connective tissues stem
cell properties
2. Using the same technique as that of Thompson but with a slightly
different combination of genes, the Japanese researchers report they
were able to reprogram 10 cells out of every 50,000
3. "We should now be able to generate patient- and disease-specific
[induced pluripotent stem] cells and then make various cells, such as
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cardiac cells, liver cells, and neural cells," team leader Shinya
Yamanaka of Kyoto University said in a statement.
iii. The collaborative work was led by Daley and conducted by researchers at the
Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Children’s Hospital Boston, the Dana-Farber
Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women’s
Hospital
1. Daley and his team used the human analogs of those same four
factors to cause human skin cells to become pluripotent.
2. In their work, they found that two of the factors, called Oct4 and
Sox2, plus one of the two remaining factors, either Klf4 or Myc, were
required for the process to work. It worked best, however, when all
four factors were present.
3. Interested in using the induced pluripotent cells to create cell lines
from patients with various blood diseases, including sickle-cell
anemia and Fanconi anemia, a hereditary disease where the bone
marrow doesn’t produce enough new cells to replenish the blood.
b. Advantages of using reprogrammed skin cells for therapeutic purposes
i. Could be used to generate patient-specific cell lines
ii. Thomson explains. "Immune rejection should not be a problem using these
cells."
iii. In the new study, to induce the skin cells to what scientists call a pluripotent
state, a condition that is essentially the same as that of embryonic stem cells
c. Potential Problems…
i. Genes are introduced through the use of a retrovirus that incorporates into
the host cell DNA
ii. Depending upon where the gene sequence inserts, it may cause trouble
(including cancers).
1. The movie: I am Legend
Conclusion
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Summarize main points
a. Exciting new development and alternative approach to getting stem cells
b. No embryos required
c. Could be used to generate patient-specific cell lines - no donor rejection
d. Potential to treat many illnesses
The fact that iPS cells have been produced in at least three different laboratories within a
few months after the initial animal studies shows that the technique is robust and easily
reproducible
So new, so potential problems may arise
a. Essential to be able to continue with stem cell research to minimize/eliminate
possible problems
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Sources
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Stem Cells and Public Policy: A Century Foundation Guide to the Issues. New York City:
The Century Foundation Press
Laughlin, Mary J. et al. “Outcomes after Transplantation of Cord Blood or Bone Marrow
from Unrelated Donors in Adults with Leukemia.” The New England Journal of Medicine.
November 25, 2004. Volume 351(22):2265-2275
Devittt, Terry. “UW-Madison scientists guide human skin cells to embryonic state.”
University of Wisconsin-Madison News. (Accessed 29 February 2008)
<http://www.news.wisc.edu/14474>
Rao, Mahendra and Condic, Maureen L. “Alternative Sources of Pluripotent Stem Cells:
Scientific Solutions to an Ethical Dilemma.” Stem Cells and Development. 17.1 (2008): 110.
Avasthi, Amitabh. “Human Skin Cells Given Stem Cell Properties.” National Geographic
News. (Accessed 29 February 2008)
<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/11/071120-stem-cells.html>
Deem, Richard. “Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS) from Human Skin: Probable
Replacement for Embryonic Stem Cells.” GodAndScience.Org. (Accessed 29 February
2008) <http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/reprogrammed_stem_cells.html>
“Researchers achieve another stem cell milestone: Revert human skin cells to embryonic
stem cell-like state.” Physorg.com. (Accessed 29 February 2008)
<http://www.physorg.com/news117639071.html>