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  • Essay / Benefits and Ethical Issues of Stem Cell Research

    Modern medicine and disease treatment approaches have undergone a paradigm shift due to significant advances in regenerative medicine. This area of ​​stem cell research has remarkable potential in developing therapies to regenerate and repair dysfunctional cells. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells with two defining characteristics: perpetual self-renewal while maintaining an unspecialized state and the ability to specialize into several other cell types. The therapeutic process includes the use of biochemicals and controlled environments to define the conditions that trigger the specialization of stem cells into the desired product and their injection as a method of delivery. Scientists have discovered various sources of stem cells in the human body. Pluripotent embryonic stem cells are isolated from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst in a fertilized egg and can differentiate into any adult cell type. Their great versatility allows them to be used in transplantation therapies for diseases such as Parkinson's disease, as well as in the cultivation of replacement organs. Adult cells are multipotent cells for replenishing dead cells that can be obtained from tissues such as bone marrow and are currently used in the treatment of leukemia. Because they have already committed to a certain developmental path, they can only specialize in the cell types of their organs of origin. Recent findings show that hematopoietic stem cells can also originate from umbilical cord blood. These cells, with low differentiation potential, can be frozen for use later in the baby's life to treat blood and immune diseases without risk of rejection, and are available in limited quantities. Groundbreaking discoveries also now allow scientists to create induced pluripotent stem cells by reprogramming adult stem cells and introducing four key genes to return them to an embryonic state. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay. These properties give stem cells the potential to fight several diseases initially considered incurable, such as Stargardt macular dystrophy. It is a genetically inherited mutation in the ABCA4 gene, which produces a protein that impairs energy transport to photoreceptor cells in the retina. This causes their degeneration and induces early vision loss. Embryonic stem cells can be induced to differentiate into retinal pigment epithelial and photoreceptor cells to combat disease progression and partially restore vision. In clinical trials conducted by Ocata Therapeutics in 2015 on nine patients, 50,000 of these cells were injected under the retina to nourish photoreceptors and slow their depletion. As hoped, the cells attached to the eye membrane without any signs of rejection and visual acuity improved. People with multiple sclerosis (MS) may benefit from transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) into the bone marrow. MS is a chronic autoimmune disease that targets the human central nervous system and gradually destroys myelin and impedes communication between the brain and body. HSCs have the ability to differentiate into lymphocytes, a..