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The Potential of Stem Cells....

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The Potential of Stem Cells....

Stem cells have many current and potential uses. According the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the single most important application of stem cells is probably that of cell-based therapies (National Institutes of Health, 2012). The need for tissues and organs for transplant to repair or replace damaged tissues and organs far outweighs the availability. Stem Cells, directed to differentiate into specific cell types, provides the possibility of creating a renewable source of tissues and organs for transplant. Potential medical conditions cell based therapies may influence: Alzheimer's Disease, spinal cord injury, burns, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, the laws of supply and demand say that as availability of organs and tissues increase, cost should go down!

Other reasons Stem Cell Research (SCR) is important (National Institutes of
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Heath, 2012): * SCR provides insight into the complexities of human development and answers questions about how cells differentiate into specific organs and tissues. * SCR may provides answers to the problems of cancer and birth defects, which occur because of abnormal cell division and differentiation. * SCR may provide the means of testing new drugs or toxins with minimal risk to humans or animals by testing them on specifically differentiated cell lines. * There has been progress made with tissue regeneration by creating healthy cells in the laboratory and then transplanting those into a human tissue, causing healthy tissues to grow. * SCR may provide the means for solving the problem of autoimmune rejection of organs and tissues making procedures eminently more effective and less costly.

https://sites.google.com/a/une.edu/stem-cell-advocacy-grou/home/The-Potential-of-stem-cell-research

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