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Stem Cells Research Paper Stem Cell Research Paper
Since their discovery, the ethics of human embryonic stem cells have been debated. As the ongoing controversy over human embryonic stem cells persists, we continue to look for alternative means of acquiring similar task-performing cells.
Margaret Goodell was one of the first to propose extracting stem cells from other sources, most notably bone marrow. Without the ethics baggage, bone marrow derived cells seemed to put aborted fetuses out of the picture. Yet, according to Catherine Verfaillie of the University of Minnesota, bone marrow cells with the same ability as stem cells are very rare. She estimates that perhaps only one out of ten billion marrow cells are versatile enough to have the ability to adapt into other functioning cells. Although this could be done, the process of finding these cells makes it difficult. Bone marrow “stem” cells, if you will, have no molecular marker that differentiates them from other bone marrow cells. The only way to recognize the difference between them is by a process of tests, which makes finding them excruciatingly difficult. They are more common in younger children, however, they have been found in some donors who were in their late forties and fifties. Verrfaillie believes this to be attributed to the development stages in youth.
Besides the ethical point, adult cells are easier to manage, according to Verfaille. They are more responsive to the environment they are put into. Embryonic stem cells injected under the skin may spontaneously differentiate into all types of tissue. Adult bone marrow cells, however, produce the desired type. Stem Cell Researcher Evan Snyder of the Children’s Hospital in Boston points out, “You don’t want teeth or bone in your brain. You don’t want muscle in you liver,” (Ruse p. 57) thus supporting further research in adult