Stem Cells in Medicine

• Stem Cells in Medicine:

  • It is possible to grow human embryos in the lab and to extract embryonic stem cells from them
  • These embryonic stem cells can then be encouraged to differentiate into most types of specialised cell
  • Scientists and doctors could use stem cell technology to repair damaged organs by growing new tissue from stem cells produced by embryos created using genetic information from the patient
  • Adult stem cells can also be cultured in the lab and made to differentiate into specialised cells
  • They can only differentiate into a few cell types (predominantly cells of the blood)
• Stem Cells in Medicine:

  • Stem cells could be used to cure many diseases in the future, such as diabetes and paralysis
• Stem Cells Table:

  
• Stem Cells Table:

  
• Stem cells in therapeutic cloning:

  • In therapeutic cloning, an embryo is produced with the same genes as the patient
  • A 5-day old embryo is the best source of embryonic stem cells
  • Stem cells from embryos created in this way are not rejected by the patient's body
  • So they may be used for medical treatment without the patient having to take drugs to suppress their immune system (which reduce the body's ability to fight infection)
• The process of therapeutic cloning:

  
• The process of therapeutic cloning:

  
• Evaluating Stem Cells in Medicine Table: