Stem Cells. What did President Obama do regarding stem cell research? Obama opens up stem cell work, science inquiriesObama opens up stem cell work, science.

Stem Cells

What did President Obama do regarding stem cell research?

• Obama opens up stem cell work, science inquiries

• Obama lifts the ban on funding of stem cell research

• What are stem cells?

• Unspecialized cells that have the potential to differentiate into many different kinds of cells

• What is a Stem Cell? (animation)

• YouTube - Stem Cells (7:52 minutes)

• Stem Cell Gold Rush - KQED QUEST Television Story (1019 minutes)

Why stem cells?

• 1. unspecialized (can become just about any kind of cell)

• 2. can keep dividing and renewing themselves for a long time

• DnaTube.com - Scientific Video Site - Division of stem cell (couple minutes)

What are the types of stem cells?

• What are some different types of stem cells? (animation)

Human Embryonic Stem Cells

• Isolated from inner mass of blastocysts

• (early embryo 4-5 days old)

• 50-100 cells

Where do they come from?

• In vitro fertilization clinics

• Egg and sperm create an embryo (8 weeks and under)

Frozen ESC

VIDEO

• NOVA | scienceNOW | Stem Cells | PBS

• Using stem cells to make insulin-producing cells

Adult Stem Cells

• Taken from adult (or children) tissue:– Umbilical cord blood– Bone marrow

– The adult tissues reported to contain stem cells include brain, bone marrow, peripheral blood, blood vessels, skeletal muscle, skin and liver.

When you go to a blood drive…

Treatment Examples

• replacing the dopamine-producing cells in the brains of Parkinson's patients

• developing insulin-producing cells for type I diabetes

• repairing damaged heart muscle following a heart attack with cardiac muscle cells

Adult Stem Cell Differentiation

Adult Stem Cells Therapies

PROS

• generate healthy heart muscle cells in the laboratory and then transplant those cells into patients with chronic heart disease.

• to form insulin-producing cells that eventually could be used in transplantation therapy for diabetics.

• Treat Parkinson’s disease

• Treat spinal and brain injuries

Fetal Stem Cells

• Found in the primitive cells of organs of fetuses

Potency

• Must be able to produce certain types of cells over a long time

POTENCY

• Totipotent

• Pluripotent

• Multipotent

• Unipotent

• Can differentiate into any embryonic cell

• Can differentiate into almost any kind of cell

• Can differentiate into only closely related cells

• Can form only one type of cell

What’s the controversy?

• Using embryonic stem cells requires the destruction of a human embryo.

Politics Involvement

• Since the arrival of the first "test tube" baby in 1978, the federal government has avoided funding any experiment that either creates or destroys a human embryo.

What if you need it?

• After Michael J. Fox acquired Parkinson’s disease, he became a proponent for stem cell research.

• When Pres. Regan had Alzheimer’s Nancy

Regan fought for stem cell research.

• Should frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization be used to create stem cells? Why or why not?

• Do embryonic stem cells represent a human life?

• Should there be laws to regulate stem cell research?

• Should the government provide funding for embryonic stem cell research?

• How far should researchers take stem cell technologies? Just because we can do something, should we? Why or why not?

• Would your views change if someone you were close to could be helped by stem cell research?