Contact:
sales@biotechnologyforums.com to feature here

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Stem Cell: An Answer to Our Prayers?
#1
Smile 
This article explains what exactly Stem Cells are, how they function and their applications.

Almost all multicellular organisms are developed from the fertilized egg. No matter if you are a plant, worm, frog or human, principal is the same. After sperm and egg merge – a zygote is formed. Diploid cell divides, leading to the next stage - embryo formation. Subsequent gigantic morphological changes can last more or less (species specific) until new organism is fully developed and ready to be born.

Cell division is necessary to increase the number of cells that will form different tissues and organs. Approximate number of cells in adult human body is 100 trillion forming 200 different cell types. It’s hard to imagine that all cells share the same ancestor considering how different they look at the end. Despite intense divisions cells are undergoing, they remain the same with intact genetic material derived from their parents. Position cell hold in the early stage of embryonic development (inside three germ’s layer) will determine its future destiny. Cells lying in the endoderm will become part of the digestive or respiratory system; cells in mesoderm – part of the muscle or bones and cells in ectoderm – part of nervous or integumentary system. Cell potency is crucial factor for differentiation processes that are leading to the new organism formation. Totipotent cell is the one able to differentiate into every kind of cells that are present in developed multicellular organism. Pluripotent cell still have high potency and can give a rise to a lot of different cell types but can’t produce extraembryonic tissue. Multipotent cell have ability to form minor number of cell types and oligopotent cell even less. With each new division, cell is becoming more differentiated and less potent. Modifications in genetic expression are controlling whole process of cell division and their specialization.

Once cell is differentiated, it becomes ready to serve its purpose. Lifespan of the cells is determined by the role they play. Taste receptors are living 10-15 days; skin cells one month, red blood cells around 3 months, muscle cells almost 15 years and nervous cells are in our body for a lifetime. Multipotent cells are replacing old cells or cells that are destroyed accidently (traumatic events like broken bone or burned skin). All “replacements” in our body are made by mesenchymal, adipose, endothelial or dental pulp stem cells.

Ability of cells to divide and differentiate as necessary was well know fact even at the beginning of the last century, but technology had to develop more to enable us to exploit that characteristic completely.
Martin Evans is a scientist responsible for isolating embryonic cell our of the mouse embryo and for gene targeting technique development. Knockout mouse is animal lacking one or more genes and it’s used for experiments where specific roles of the genes are investigated. He won a Nobel Prize for the contribution to the medicine and physiology.
Besides being useful for genetic experiments, stem cells become inevitable in therapy of various illnesses. The most used and famous stem cell associated therapy is bone marrow transplantation. It’s used for treatment of leukemia and lymphoma. Other promising therapies included brain and spinal cord injuries, intra cranial tumors, myocardial infarction, baldness, blindness and visual impairments, deafness, diabetes, neural and birth defects, wound healing, infertility…

Stem cells could be used for the animal treatments and they are especially effective for cardiac and musculoskeletal disorders.

Since stem cell therapy is one of the most promising future treatments, people are able to isolate and cryopreserve stem cells of their offspring by collecting samples of amniotic fluid (amniocentesis) during the pregnancy or out of the umbilical cord blood after the birth. Using specific techniques those cells are frozen and cryopreserved by liquid nitrogen. That way, cells are kept alive and ready for use the minute they are needed.

Another way to produce necessary amount of stem cells is to multiply them artificially. Those techniques are used in regenerative medicine, where cells, tissues or organs are replaced with laboratory grown implants. This type of healing can be faster and safer than waiting for organ donation. Also, that could solve the problem of immune response that is happening every time foreign organ is implanted. If patient himself donates cells for laboratory cultivation, transplant rejection will be avoided as body will recognize replaced tissue/organ as his own.

Therapeutic application of the stem cells is endless. Those are our cells and they “know” how to repair what need to be repaired once they are in the hotspot of the disease. Make sure to preserve your offspring’s stem cells – you never know when you going to need them.
[+] 1 user Likes BojanaL's post
Like Post Reply
#2
Stem cells are the body's raw materials. Cells from which all other cells with specialized functions are generated. Under the right conditions in the body or a laboratory, stem cells divide to form daughter cells.

These daughter cells either turn out to be new stem cells (self-renewal) or become focused cells (differentiation) with a more specific purpose, such as blood cells, brain cells, heart muscle or bone. No other cell in the body has the natural ability to generate new cell types.

Researchers have discovered several sources of stem cells:

• Embryonic stem cells.
These stem cells arrive from embryos that are 3-5 days old. At this stage, an embryo is called a blastocyst and has ~150 cells in to it. These are pluripotent stem cells, sense they can divide into more stem cells or can turn out to be any type of cell in the body. This adaptability allows embryonic stem cells to be used to regenerate or repair diseased tissue and organs, although their use in people has been to date restricted to eye-related disorders such as macular degeneration.

• Adult stem cells.
These stem cells are observed in small numbers in most adult tissues, such as bone marrow or fat. In contrast with embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells have a more limited ability to give rise to various cells of the body. Until recently, researchers thought adult stem cells could create only alike types of cells. For instance, researchers thought that stem cells residing in the bone marrow could give rise only to blood cells. Nevertheless, emerging evidence suggests that adult stem cells may be able to generate unrelated types of cells. For instance, bone marrow stem cells may be able to create bone or heart muscle cells. This research has led to early-stage clinical trials to test usefulness and safety in people.

• Perinatal stem cells.
Researchers have exposed stem cells in amniotic fluid in addition to umbilical cord blood stem cells. These stem cells also have the aptitude to change into specialized cells. Amniotic fluid fills the sac that surrounds and protects a developing fetus in the uterus. Scientists have identified stem cells in samples of amniotic fluid taken from pregnant women during a procedure called amniocentesis, a test conducted to test for abnormalities.
Like Post Reply
#3
Stem cells have enormous potential in health and medical research but to fully harness this potential, scientists are studying how stem cells transform, or differentiate, into the diverse range of specialised cells that make humans what they are today.
Like Post Reply
#4
scientists have identified stem cells in samples of amniotic fluid taken from pregnant women during a procedure called amniocentesis, a test conducted to test for abnormalities.
Like Post Reply
#5
Hi,
Thank you for the article it was really informative, we are expecting our first child. I wanted to know if it is worth going for cord blood banking and have been reading a lot about this online. Now that I know that stem cells will be able to protect my baby in the future I just wanted to know where can i find more information about stem cell banks in India. This is a pretty new concept in India so I am doing my research online.  I looked for a few brands and came across Cord Life India. They have their services in Singapore too so I’m guessing they will have better technology and set up. They claim to have some good facilities in terms of preserving the samples. Does anyone have information about them?
Like Post Reply
#6
(12-22-2016, 05:29 PM)Simi Hirani Wrote: Hi,
Thank you for the article it was really informative, we are expecting our first child. I wanted to know if it is worth going for cord blood banking and have been reading a lot about this online. Now that I know that stem cells will be able to protect my baby in the future I just wanted to know where can i find more information about stem cell banks in India. This is a pretty new concept in India so I am doing my research online.  I looked for a few brands and came across Cord Life India. They have their services in Singapore too so I’m guessing they will have better technology and set up. They claim to have some good facilities in terms of preserving the samples. Does anyone have information about them?
Stem cell banking is indeed good to go for (given the fact that there is nothing invasive or to loose out of it).

As far as brands are concerned, I am not aware of their competitive statuses.

Best wishes for this rare and joyous moment Health, Happiness and Joy wished your way.
Sunil Nagpal
MS(Research) Scholar, IIT Delhi (Alumnus)
Advisor for the Biotech Students portal (BiotechStudents.com)
Computational Researcher in BioSciences at a leading MNC


Suggested Reads:
Top Biotech Companies | Top places to work
Indian Biotech Companies and Job Openings
Aiming a PhD in Top Grad School? | These are the Important Points to Consider
Careers in Biotechnology | A list of various Options
Biotechnology Competitive Exams in India
Like Post Reply
  

Possibly Related Threads…
Thread
Author
  /  
Last Post
Replies: 0
Views: 8,727
11-20-2017, 06:19 PM
Last Postasif khan
Replies: 0
Views: 8,627
11-25-2015, 09:47 PM
Last Postpriyap01
Replies: 1
Views: 20,145
05-31-2014, 04:51 AM
Last Postscientista
Replies: 2
Views: 20,178
05-13-2014, 11:28 AM
Last PostAngelou



Users browsing this thread:
2 Guest(s)

Stem Cell: An Answer to Our Prayers?00