Stem Cells

Essay by raul4Junior High, 9th gradeA-, January 2010

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Stem cells are cells that have the potential to transform into any other cell in the human body. These cells are also capable of dividing them selves to make multiple copies; the stem cells taken from the embryos can turn into any one of the 300 cells types of cells in the human body. These cells are so versatile that they can be used to repair damaged tissues or cure diseases like the Parkinson's disease. Stem cells can also be used to test new drugs on the different cells in the human body to see what kind of an effect it has on each type of cell. The most important part of stem cell research is the generation of cells and tissues that can be used to replace the donation of organs.

In the near future it may become possible to produce heart muscle cells in the laboratories and then transplant those cells to patients with chronic disease.

Stem research in mice indicates that bone marrow stem cells can produce heart muscle cells and successfully repopulate them. For the patients suffering from type 1 diabetes the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin are destroyed by the patient's own immune system. Recent studies have also showed that it is might be possible to direct the stem cells into a cell culture to form insulin producing cells. These cells could later on be used in transplantation therapy by diabetics.

There are plenty of dangers related with stem cells, for example after the transplantation the growth of these cells might not have been harnessed and these cells may grow unabated resulting in cancer and tumors also known as teratomas. There can be other dangers of transplantation, there might be a chance that the transplanted stem cells might not grow into the...