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The Pros And Cons Of Stem Cells

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As scientific research continues to advance every year, geneticists aim to discover new information related to the genomes of the world’s species’ by linking every day anatomic functions to problems caused through genetics. Because of them, today the world has the ability to link, identify, and even manipulate the genes within the universal genome. Though these advances make it look like we’re living in the midst of a science fiction movie like Jurassic Park, humanity wonders how far genetics will go in developing these technologies that aim to create organisms closer to perfection than ever before. Regardless of the ethical issues associated with these technologies, these developments are worth exploring for their fascinating insights that …show more content…

They have an efficient capacity to divide into other stem cells through a process called self-renewal or into precursors for specialized cells. Stem cells are created through two techniques. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) are derived from adult somatic cells such as skin cells. They’re created by a genetically engineered retrovirus that encode for products for humans that convert the somatic cells into stem cells and replicate (Klug, Cummings, Spencer, & Palladino, 2016). The cells derived are considered pluripotent meaning they can turn into cells that are descendants of the three germ layers, endoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm (Medvedev, Shevchenko, & Zakian, 2010). The more natural method for obtaining stem cells are derived from embryos. Five days after in vitro fertilization, a blastocyst is developed enough so that is a ball of stem cells surrounded by a thin layer of cells that are destined to become the placenta for the embryo (Bethesda, 2015). The stem cells are isolated, put into a medium, and can be induced by growth factors and hormones to differentiate and become germ line cells. The cells that are derived from here are considered totipotent, which means that they have the ability to turn into any human cell. Unlike pluripotent cells, which can give rise to most cells as long as they’re derived from the germ layers, totipotent cells have the ability to give rise to an entire organism because of its wide plasticity (Brown University,

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