Andrew Nguyen

Mr. Sousa

AP Biology

October 3, 2010

Stem Cell Research Paper

Today’s society focuses on improving health and prolonging life. Stem cell

research is one gateway to better health. All stem cells function similarly in that they

produce more specialized cells (Marshall, 2006). The more specialized cells replace

existing or missing cells, which in turn can regenerate vital tissues. However, different

types of stem cells have different limits as to how many different types of cells they can

produce. Embryonic stem cells are considered the most versatile group of stem cells, able

to produce any cell in the body (Holland, 2001). They are also considered the most

controversial because obtaining these types of stem cells requires the destruction of

embryos.

The other major type of stem cell is the adult stem cell. These stem cells are more

specialized and are limited as to what type of cell they produce. The outlook is that they

do not required the destruction of embryos as they are attained from simpler biopsies of

adult tissue (Fuchs, 2006). As of now, only adult stem cells have provided therapeutic

remedies for humans ( “Biotechnology: Changing Life Through Science” 257, 2010).

Recently, a court decision deemed federal funding of embryonic illegal. Scientists now

lack resources to study embryonic stem cells. However, under closer examination, it may

be possible, or even beneficial, to with go embryonic stem cell research.

Totipotent stem cells are the cells in an embryo, a human being in its earliest
stages of development. These cells will ultimately develop into every cell, organ, and

tissue in the body. Because of their ability to become any cell and tissue type, scientists

believe that totipotent stem cells have the potential to treat many different diseases

(Fuchs, 2006). They also have the potential to generate entire human organs, which could

help the thousands of people who are waiting for organ transplants. However, research is

just beginning on theses cells, and any treatments that may come from totipotent stem

cells are many years in the future. The reason research is far behind on these cells is the

same reason why totipotent stem cells appear indefinitely promising; they are not

specialized at all. While the yields from this cell may be great, their lack of specialization

means that creating a useful cell will require extremely intensive incubation.

Totipotent stem cells are the most promising stem cell to research but are also the most

controversial. Acquisition of totipotent stem cells requires the destruction of an embryo.

Pluripotent stem cells derive from totipotent stem cells. As totipotent cells

continue to divide, they make a blastocyst, a hollow ball in which cells begin to

specialize. This inner mass is made up of pluripotent cells. They are not sufficient for

fetal development because they can not form the outer membrane (Holland, 2001). Each

of the inner-cell-mass cells does, however, have the potential to become any type of cell

in the fetus, itself. If research continues to move forward, pluripotent cells may produce

any type of tissue needed for therapy. For example, it may become possible to produce

pancreatic islet cells to treat diabetes (Fuchs, 2006). For now, there are no applicable

human success stories.

Both totipotent and pluripotent stem cells are embryonic. Although their

applications appear to be limitless, their acquisition is not. First, the destruction of human
embryos is not morally acceptable. Secondly, only cells from embryonic stem cells,

containing an individual’s exact DNA will be accepted into the body in the long run. This

means scientists will have to clone human embryonic stem cells, which leads to another

problem. Human cloning is not accepted in today’s society. For these reasons, embryonic

stem cells may not look as promising as they originally appeared. Adult stem cells may

be a viable alternative.

Multipotent stem cells are found in the tissues of adult mammals. They are

in most organs, where they replace diseased or aged cells. Therefore, they replenish the

body's cells throughout an individual's life. A multipotent stem cell can produce other

types of cells but it is limited in its ability to differentiate. Examples of multipotent stem

cells include brain cells that give rise to different neural cells (Marshall, 2006). However,

they ca not create more brain cells. Multipotent adult stem cells are useful in transplants.

They can be isolated from a person's tissues and then guided to develop into a certain

type of cell, before being transplanted back into the same patient. This avoids the

problem where a patient's immune system could reject a 'foreign' tissue.

In March of 2010, the FDA approved for therapeutical use of multipotent stem

cells to treat Lou Gherig’s Disease. TCA Cellular Therapy, a clinic that is aimed at

utilizing all different types of stem cells, has gotten the safety approval from the FDA.

“TCA performs autologous transplants that use a patient’s own bone marrow to produce

stem cells, culture them, and then inject them back into the body.” The cells injected back

into the spine are essentially neurotrophic stem cells, which reconnect, or form new

neurons between muscle cells and the spinal cord.

 Oligopotent stem cells can differentiate into either lymphoid or myeloid stem

cells. This leaves the oligopotent stem cells with a limited ability because although the

lymphatic system creates blood cells, the oligopotent stem cell can only create the one

type it was originally guided to produce. Though more restrictive, this stem cell requires

less guidance. One therapeutic use of oligopotent stem cells is to create the cornea,

because it contains the correct markers that less specialized stem cells lack (Fuchs, 2006).

This procedure has been successfully done on pigs (Holland, 2001).

Unipotent stem cells are the most specialized stem cell. They give rise to only one

type of cell. That is not to say that they are useless. Epidermal stem cells are used daily in

hospitals to help burn patients. Doctors take a biopsy of the patient where their skin is

still intact. The lower portion of the skin contains the unipotent stem cells, which create

skin cells. Because they are highly specialized, culturing these stem cells is relatively

easy, compared to making skin cells from Multipotent stem cells or even embryonic stem

cells (Fuchs, 2006) Previously, doctors would wait for the skin to regenerate on its own,

if it even did. While they waited for the healing to take place, they would patch the area

with pig skin, which would be rejected within a month. Using the stem cell solves the

repetitive rejection problem and also speed up or initiates the healing process. Unipotent

stem cells are used on a daily basis to treat burn victims.

Taking all the different stem cells into consideration multipotent stem cells would

be most beneficial to research. Scientists are finding easier and easier ways to culture

stem cells. If perfected, multipotent stem cells could be drawn from marrow tissue and

then used to create any other mass. This would be extremely efficient in curing many

diseases. Multipotent stem cells are the best choice because they do not breach society’s
moral values by destroying embryonic embryos or require basic cloning. They also

require less culturing than embryonic stem cells. On the other end of the spectrum,

multipotent stem cells have the ability to diversify more than any other adult stem cell.

Focusing on a more specialized stem cell would indeed result in a better short term gain.

However, researching stem cells with limitations while there is a limitless option is not

logical. By consolidating resources into multipotent stem cells, there is little risk as

Multipotent stem cells have already been used in over 70 therapy applications (“Stem

Cell Research and Applications”, 2010). By investing into multipotent stem cells, many

more diseases will soon be cured. Then again, cancer was not a big issue in the 40’s,

before vaccines to devastating diseases like polio were created. Who is to decide which is

a lesser evil?