Stem cells

IntroductionStem Cell Basics

Mature Stem Cells Embryonic Stem Cells

Application of Stem CellsChallenges ahead Islamic PerspectiveConclusionQ & A

Mature Stem cells are part of a tissue/cell renewal mechanism

Millions repairing and replacing our damaged body cells

MultipotentConsidered limited in their potential

to become any type of body cell

Bone MarrowBlood Stream Human Eye Dental pulp Liver Skin Gastrointestinal tract Pancreas

Immune response is unlikely They are available in blood stem

cells They are partially specialized, and

require less coaxing to create specialized cells

Limited longevityDifficult to find and extract from

mature tissuesMany unknowns limited flexibilityUncommon and growing scarce with

ageQuestionable quality due to genetic

defects

Also called Early Stem Cells In normal human reproductive

development early stem cells become all the cells of the body, making them Pluri-potent

An embryo that has developed for three to five days

A mass of about 100 or so cells. A thin-walled hollow sphere made up

of an outer layer of cells, a fluid filled cavity, and an inner cell mass containing stem cells

Blastocyst

Blastocyst

Early stem cells are found in the inner cell mass of the blastocyst.

Once the inner cell mass is removed from the blastocyst, the stem cells are placed in a culture dish where they grow and replicate over time.

In normal reproductive development, the inner cell mass becomes all the tissues of the body and the yolk sac.

ImmortalEasy to extract in Laboratoryvery flexible and can make any body

cell Readily AvailableWith SCNT immune rejection is not

an issue because the patients are using their own cells.

Immune rejection is possible if stem cells are derived from an blastocyst created through in vitro fertilization

Difficult to control

To test new medications for safety and effectiveness for human beings

Medication could be tried out far more quickly than it could be tested in clinical trials

Would save experimentation on live patients, speed up research process, make quick results available

To repair cells or tissues that have been damaged by disease or injury

Also called Cell-based Therapy

Its like reconditioning your body

To grow entire organs in a laboratory First create a sort of mould out of a

biodegradable polymer Then seed it with stem cells Growth factors to guide the organ's

development Tissue-covered mould implanted into the

patient As the tissue grew from the stem cells, the

scaffold would degrade, leaving a complete ear, liver or other organ

There will be huge organ factories around the world

Parkinson's disease Diabetes Heart disease Spinal cord injury Burns Alzheimer's Vision loss

Master the Art of Signaling How to direct a stem cell to

differentiate into a specific tissue or cell type

How to control that differentiation once the cells are injected into a person

The problem of Rejection With stem cells taken from a donated

embryo,  immune system may attack against them.

Adult stem cells can overcome this problem But adult stem cells are less flexible

Objection by Religious Groups

Requirements Create insulin-producing cells Regulate Insulin Production

Triggering Mechanism Internal cues  External cues 

Understanding the Triggering Signal

Embryos are considered a human soul the day they are conceived

Ends don’t Justify MeansUltimately each of us will die, but that gives no one a right to kill us

Majority View Fertilized ova are not held to be

sacred by the Shariah at all, until they become embedded in the uterine wall

Minority View Fertilization of the ovum is the first

phase of the human being and honoured by Allah

Distinction between "actual life" and "potential life," with "actual life" given a higher priority for protection in the law.

An embryo created in a dish is not yet a human being

The question is when exactly the soul enters into the fetus, rendering it "actual life"

Some say 40 days, others say 120 days

"Each of you possesses his own formation within his mother's womb, first as a drop of matter for forty days, then as a blood clot for forty days, then as a blob for forty days, and then the angel is sent to breathe life into him."

Use the knowledge God has given us to cure disease, alleviate human suffering, and save human life

It is not only allowed, but it is obligatory (fard kifayah) to pursue this research

Saudi Ulemas, Irani Ulema like Ayatollah Khamanei, Pakistani Ulema like Dr Israr Ahmed have stressed the need to master this technology

Subsequently Stem cell research is thriving in Muslim Countries

Iran Made significant progress with laboratory

animals Is in the top 10 of countries in the world in

embryonic stem cells Successfully completed the regrowth of a rat's

severed spinal cord using stem-cell research Egypt, Turkey and Malaysia

Good progress in stem cell research Pakistan

Yet to enter this field of research