Stems Cells: Combining Technology and Biology. Essay Sample

Stem cells are unique kinds of human cells that have the capability of dividing into many different cell types, from the muscle to the brain cells. Stem cells are known to possess the ability to amend worn-out tissues. However, according to scientists, stem cells based therapies would be used in the future to treat severe illnesses like Alzheimer's disease and paralysis (Kalra, & Tomar, 2014). Hence this paper tends to describe the biology of stem cells, and how they are unique and distinctive from other cells with their benefits and disadvantages to the human body. The paper will further explain how these cells can be used for various diseases and injuries with unique functions for spinal cord damage.

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Stem cells turn as a kind of inner repair system as they are characterized through continuous division in many tissues without any restrictions to exchange other cells as long as the individual or animal remains alive. Each time a cell differentiates, it can stay to be a stem cell or advance to a different specialized function like the muscle cell, brain cell, or red blood cell (Kalra, & Tomar, 2014). However, they are distinguished from other cells through two unique features. Stem cells are unspecialized cells with the potential to regenerate through cell division or after a prolonged period of inaction. Furthermore, they have the potential to develop tissue or particular cells with unusual tasks under particular physiological experimental conditions.

The cells can divide and regenerate for prolonged periods, contrasting from the blood cells, muscle cells, or sensory cells, which in most5 cases do not separate themselves as the stem cells do. Therefore stem cells with a small population can thrive for many months in the research laboratory to generate millions of cells. In the condition of the cells progressing to regenerate like the mother cells, the cells can be able to go for prolonged renewal.

The cells are unspecialized. They have a unique characteristic of not having any particular tissue that will enable it to carry out various specific functions (Kalra, & Tomar, 2014). For instance, a stem cell cannot coordinate with other tissues like the red blood cells to transport oxygen in the blood in the form of hemoglobin. The essential features of the stem cells are on how they reproduce the specialized cells through the differentiation process. The process passes through many stages as the cells tend to be much more generalized in each step.

Pros of the Stem Cells

Mature stem cells have little rejection rates: scientist can be able to develop cures from the individual patients then the cells can be altered into different forms of therapies that have a reduced chance of rejection. Since the cells are derived from the individual in need of a cure.

Some of the stems cells can be modified into pluripotent cells: through the use of iPS reprogramming features have the potential to be reorganized into pluripotent stem cells (Nishikawa, Goldstein, & Nierras, 2008). The cells can be triggered once this happens into the ectoderm or endoderm cells.

The modern means of treatment choices for the stem cells are very many: the most popular use of stem cell therapy, which is used nowadays, is in the treatment of leukemia and lymphoma patients that have marrow replacement.

Cons of Stem Cells

The embryonic stems have the highest potential of rejection rates: the embryonic have for a long time, been established to develop numerous future health difficulties; thus, the rejection rates tend to be very high for these therapies.

Most of adult stem cells have a firm cell type: adult stems cells have a firm cell type as they cannot be transformed into various cell tissues.

Getting any stem cell is a tiresome process: to collect an embryonic stem cell, one must develop an embryo in culture. After harvesting the embryo from the culture, it will take a long period for it to produce enough to the point that therapy can be formed.

How Stem Cells can be used to Treat Diseases with Special Functions on the Spinal Cord Injuries

The damaged spinal cord is very problematic to mend and redevelop. Although the traditional methods of treating the disorder are not valid. The stem cells are known to employ a therapeutic condition carefully dividing into neurons or exchanging the injured cells, discharging neurotrophic factors, and restricting the provocative reaction (Coutts & Keirstead, 2008). However, over the years, different kinds of stem cells have been used in the repair of the spinal cord with each with its benefits and shortcomings. However, according to studies that have been conducted, the BM-MSCs are removed from the BM but are distinct from the bone marrow hematopoietic cells, which develop in an enthusiast kind into the mesoderm cells. However, to the present, the acknowledged markers that are specified for BM-MSC consist of CD90, CD44, and CD29. Furthermore, earlier research shows the keen ability to divide BM-MSCs into chondrocytes, osteoblasts, adipocytes, chondroblasts and various sub-kinds of glial cells and neurons under different initiation circumstances. Hence BM-MSCI is thought to be the perfect therapy for spinal cord injury.

According to the above discussed, the exceptional properties of stem cells. Its pros and cons in various treatments and applications and on how the stem cells can be used in the treatment of spinal cord injury using the BM-MSCs one can, therefore, conclude that stem cells are the only solution to human diseases and disorders.

References

Coutts, M., & Keirstead, H. S. (2008). Stem cells for the treatment of spinal cord injury. Experimental neurology, 209(2), 368-377.

Kalra, K., & Tomar, P. (2014). Stem cell: basics, classification and applications. American Journal of Phytomedicine and Clinical Therapeutics, 2(7), 919-930.

Nishikawa, S. I., Goldstein, R. A., & Nierras, C. R. (2008). The promise of human-induced pluripotent stem cells for research and therapy. Nature Reviews, Molecular Cell Biology, 9(9), 725.