Stem Cells unlike any specific adult cells are undifferentiated cells, completely totipotent or in other words capable of indifinite proliferation in culture and can be potentially grown in adult organs like bone, muscle, liver, bloods cells, etc. Those embryonic stem cells are derived from in vitro fertilised embryos of 4-7 days cells.
The cells in the outer layer from the placenta but those in the inner layer are undecided on what they will be when they grow up. They are infact ‘pluripotent’ able to develop into any of the 220 cell types that make the human body. These are the famous stem cells. Scientists like John Gearheart have so far found a way to turn these stem cells into 110 kinds of cells. Their property to regenerate vital organs has made them much important these days.
A new type of therapy called the stem cell therapy may be on the anvil. By injecting these cells into various organs, the latter can be rejuvenated. Further, these cells can be used to fight various diseases. Stem Cells transformed to islet cells can cure diabetes. Similarly, those that form nerve cells can cure spinal chord injuries, ALS, Alzheimer and Parkinson’s disease. The list is endless. Notwithstanding the debate on the ethical norms, one cannot ignore stem cells as a penacea for several diseases.
Recent days have witnessed a massive uproar as to the nature of human embryonic stem cells in the political and scientific circles. The central theme of controversy lies in the idea whether the stem cells are embryonic or non embryonic in nature. The opponents of this research believe in moral and ethical grounds they treat these cells as distict life and adhere to the idea that extracting building block cells from embryos necessitates the destruction of potential foetuses destroying life.
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Even after such a controversy Britain adheres to carrying out the research on stem cells. Even the federal government of US finally took the expected middle path and approved limited federal funding for medical research on stem cells extracted from human embroyos. However, the whole matter is still under controversy and further research is needed to exactly overcome the issue.