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Stem Cell Ethical Issues

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In this essay I will be talking about stem cells, how they work, ethical and moral issues that are currently surrounding them and what we can look for in the future. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells in the body which change into specialised cells. During mitosis they can divide and produce more stem cells and are found in multicellular organisms and mammals. The two main types of stem cells are; embryonic stem cells, which are found in the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, whereas adult stem cells are found in varying tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells are a way for the body to repair itself when it gets injured or when it’s needed to replace dead or damaged cells. In developing embryos, stem cells differentiate into all specialised …show more content…

The hope for this is that the transplant of stem cells are introduced into the body and replace damaged or dying cells, taking over their function and repairing any tissue damages. Stem cells can also be used in an opposing way to tissue repair, by removing cancerous cells in the body. This attempt is carried out by using the “homing ability” of stem cells as they automatically know to go to a site of damage. Engineered stem cells deliver compounds which are toxic specifically to those tumours, which goes back to them being used for medicinal purposes. In recent years stem cell therapy has been joined with gene therapy. This is because stem cells can be manipulated outside the body genetically. (Wellcome Trust, Date unknown)
Stem cell transplant is used as a treatment to attempt to cure certain cancers, such as lymphoma, leukaemia and myeloma. During this you have high doses of chemotherapy sessions, occasionally with radiotherapy of the entire body. This type of medicine has a high chance of killing cancerous cells; however it also kills the stem cells found in bone marrow. After receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments, stem cells from a donor are put through a drip connected to your vein which replaces the stem cells which were killed during treatment. (Cancer Research UK, …show more content…

The study of stem cells still isn’t well known which is why I also agree with using stem cells taken from embryos, as it can massively help with research into the matter and we can have a better understanding of how they work. With this research we can investigate further and see if stem cells can be used in drugs; if so we can then research to see how the body reacts to stem cells being taken in drug form like how penicillin

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