Stem Cells: Nature's Internal Repair System - Essay Sample

Introduction

Stem cells are cells which have the capability of developing in the body into different types of cells, during the early life of an individual and at the course of growth. In a majority of the tissue where they occur, they serve the purpose of internal repair to replenish other cells during the lifetime of the individual. During the division of the cells, they can either remain as stem cells or replicate into other different cells, whose function is more specialized.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

These stem cells are unique from other cells in the body by two distinct characteristics. The first unique feature is that the cells are unspecialized and therefore, renew themselves during cell division. Secondly, unlike other cells, stem cells can be induced to become tissue or organ-specific with the specific function in that organ or tissue. This normally happens under certain physiological and experimental conditions.

The major function of stem cells is to replace worn out tissues and generate new ones at early ages of growth. They divide in the blastocyst to develop some of the organs such as the heart, the lungs, and the skin among other organs and tissues. In the adults, they replace work out cells from tissues and organs such as the born marrow, brain, and muscle. These include especially those cells that are worn out due to accidents, injuries, and diseases.

Due to the replication power of the cells, it is possible for medical practitioners to develop a cell-based therapy aimed at treating diseases. The cells are being used in some of the laboratories to screen new drugs. It can also monitor the normal growth of man and the defects that are associated with congenital disabilities. The medicine obtained from the cell-based therapies is referred to as regenerative medicine.

Types of Stem Cells

There are two types of stem cells, namely embryonic and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos, which develop from fertilized eggs, in vitro kind of fertilization (Wu et al., 2016). They are normally developed in laboratories through a process called the pre-implantation. The cells are planted in culture laboratory dishes, which are plastic. The cells divide and spread on the surface of the dish. The dish has a feeder layer whose main purpose is to provide a wall the cells can attach to and also supply nutrients.

The second type of stem cells is adult stem cells. They are normally undifferentiated cells but are found among the differentiated cells in a tissue. These cells can replicate and divide to some major specialized cell types in the tissue of the organ. In the adult, the cells serve the main purpose of maintaining and repairing tissue in which they are found. They are mainly found in the brain, blood vessels, bone marrow, the heart, gut the liver, teeth, ovarian epithelium, and testis. When thee cells divide, they form the specialized cells according to the specific function in the cells in which they occur.

Differences Between Embryonic and Adult Stem Cells

There are differences between the embryonic and the adult stem cells. The first difference is on the number they can differentiate to and the cell types they can become. Embryonic cells can differentiate into any type of cell in the body due to the pluripotent nature they have while adult stem cell differentiates to the cell type in the tissue in which they originate from (Trounson, & DeWitt, 2016). Embryonic stem cells can be developed in culture while adult ones cannot since no experiment has been done yet on them. Adult stem cells are normally found in mature tissues in small numbers, while embryonic cells are mostly found in young developing tissues.

Pros and Cons for Embryonic and Adult Stem Cells

The pros of embryonic stem cells include that they are not considered to have life. This is because, at the stage of the development of the embryos, they are not taken to be persons. They can be used in the search for a cure for medical conditions. They can also be sued for an organ transplant. The cons are that the use of the cells has not yet been proved to be successful. The use of the cells in research deprives the embryo of respect just any other human beings.

The adult stem cells have some pros, which include the fact that a few cells can create trillions of other specialized cells. The cells also reduce the risk of rejection in the cases on a transplant (Blokzijl et al., 2016). They repair worn-out tissue in the body and thus keeping health. The cons of these adult cells are that they are few and thus limiting the treatment options for growth. Several challenges are incurred in developing adult stem cell.

Usage in Treatment

In the treatment of diseases, the stem cells can be used to treat them, for example, spinal cord injuries. Injuries often may have led to the destruction of several cells. When a stem cell is introduced, the cells divide and differentiate to the specialization of the place. New cells in the spinal cord will, therefore, be formed and would, therefore, aid in the healing process.

Conclusion

In conclusion, stem cells are basic call cells which divide to form newly differentiated cells. The specialization of every cell depends on the type and the nature of the place they originate from. They can be useful if research, especially when looking for new medicine. The stem cells would help mostly in cases where cell division is required.

References

Blokzijl, F., De Ligt, J., Jager, M., Sasselli, V., Roerink, S., Sasaki, N., & Nijman, I. J. (2016). Tissue-specific mutation accumulation in human adult stem cells during life. Nature, 538(7624), 260.

Trounson, A., & DeWitt, N. D. (2016). Pluripotent stem cells progressing to the clinic - nature reviews Molecular cell biology, 17(3), and 194.

Wu, T. P., Wang, T., Seetin, M. G., Lai, Y., Zhu, S., Lin, K., & Tackett, A. (2016). DNA methylation on N 6-adenine in mammalian embryonic stem cells. Nature, 532(7599), 329.