Stem Cell – De Novo Treatment Disorders

In recent past, several research papers mentioned that stem cells can cure ailments of even serious nature whether acute or chronic in humans and also in other animals. Basic and clinical research accomplished during the last few years on embryonic, fetal, amniotic, umbilical cord blood, and adult stem cells has constituted a revolution in regenerative medicine and cancer therapies by providing the possibility of generating multiple therapeutically useful cell types. These new cells could be used for treating numerous genetic and degenerative disorders. Among them, age-related functional defects, hematopoietic and immune system disorders, heart failures, chronic liver injuries, diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, arthritis, and muscular, skin, lung, eye, and digestive disorders as well as aggressive and recurrent cancers could be successfully treated by stem cell-based therapies [1-5].


Introduction
In recent past, several research papers mentioned that stem cells can cure ailments of even serious nature whether acute or chronic in humans and also in other animals. Basic and clinical research accomplished during the last few years on embryonic, fetal, amniotic, umbilical cord blood, and adult stem cells has constituted a revolution in regenerative medicine and cancer therapies by providing the possibility of generating multiple therapeutically useful cell types. These new cells could be used for treating numerous genetic and degenerative disorders. Among them, age-related functional defects, hematopoietic and immune system disorders, heart failures, chronic liver injuries, diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, arthritis, and muscular, skin, lung, eye, and digestive disorders as well as aggressive and recurrent cancers could be successfully treated by stem cell-based therapies [1][2][3][4][5].
A South Korean woman paralysed for 20 years has recouped walking after Scientist's repaired her damaged spine using stem cells derived from Umbilical Cord blood. This might be the world's fi rst published report in which a patient with spinal cord injuries had been successfully treated with stem cells from Umbilical Cord blood [6].For the therapy, multipotent stem cells were isolated from Umbilical Cord blood, which had been frozen immediately after the birth of a baby and cultured for a period of time. Then, these cells were directly injected to the damaged part of the spinal cord. Earlier, bone marrow cells have been used to treat cancer patients with conditions such as leukemia and lymphoma.During chemotherapy, most growing cells are killed by the cyto-toxic agents. These agents not only kill the leukemia or neoplastic cells, but also the stem cells needed to replace the killed cells as patient recovers. However, if the stem cells are removed before chemotherapy, and then re-injected after treatment is terminated, the stem cells in the bone marrow produce large amounts of red and white blood cells, to keep the body healthy and to help fi ght infections. In recent past, stem cells have been taken from the blood instead of bone marrow, making the procedure safer for older people. Normally less number of peripheral blood cells can be increased by a course of drugs, which release the stem cells from the bone marrow. These are removed before chemotherapy, which kills most of them and re-injected afterwards [7]. The group of scientists who achieved worldwide fame for cloning the sheep 'dolly' have successfully created heart tissue using cow stem cells. It was demonstrated that the stem cells could be transformed into differentiated bodily tissues, offering great scope for further research [8]. It has been reported that Scientists at Enzi Biochem Inc made an attempt through stem cell therapy using bone marrow transplantation technique to treat HIV infections and other types of cancers.
The exciting HIV experiments were conducted using stem cells found in patient's own bone marrow, spleen or blood [9]. Chinese scientists working in US have claimed success in coaxing human embryonic stem cells to become spinal motor neurons, which could help treat diseased critical nervous system. Motor neurons transmit messages from the brain, dictating almost every body movements [10]. It is surprising to note that these remarkable achievements relied on the use of stem cells from embryos or the products of abortion, however, all these involved use of adult stem cells or from non-embryo resources. But the breathless stories extolling the miraculous potential of embryonic stem cell research is now gaining immense importance. In several countries, many Parkinson's disease is caused when key brain cells that produce -message -carrying chemical dopamine die off.
Symptoms start with patient trembling and he/she can end up paralyzed there is no cure for Parkinson's disease.
The application of stem cell research is not only restricted to human health science but also in other areas like animal sciences including fi sheries and aquaculture. It is a known fact that worldwide there is a decline in number of wild species of fi sh and shellfi sh which calls for strategies to restore endangered population. And answer to this is use of stem cells from embryos of such animals for their mass scale production.
In one of the reports, published in Nature [13] describes successful production of salmon using stem cells of rainbow trout embryos. As cryopreservation of egg and embryos has so far been unsuccessful for fi sh, Primordial Germ Cell (PGC) xenotransplantation in combination with PGC cryopreservation could be a useful strategy for helping the conservation of endangered species of fi sh.

What are stem cells
Stem cells are primal undifferentiated 'master cells' in the body which have the potential to produce any kind of cell in the body. Stem cell research may lead to exponential improvements in the treatment of many terminal and debilitating conditions, from cancer to Parkinson's to Alzheimer's to diabetes to heart disease. Medical researches believed that stem cells have the potential to change the face of human diseases by being used to repair specifi c tissues or to grow organs [14].

Types of stem cells
There are three types of stem cells viz. totipotent, pluripotent, and multipotent. A single totipotent stem cell can grow into an entire organism. Pluripotent stem cells can not grow into a whole organ, but they can become any other type of cell in the body. Multi-potent stem cells can only become particular types of cells e.g. blood cells, or bone cells [14].
Stem cells are also categorized according to their source, as either adults or embryonic. Adult stem cells are already being used in treatments for over 100 diseases and conditions, while embryonic stem cell research is a less developed fi eld and is considered by many researchers to have greater potential as the basis of treatments. Research with embryonic stem cell is controversial also because it requires destruction of embryos, which too many people are human beings, meaning that destroying an embryo for any reason is morally unacceptable.
On the other side of the issue, people point out that embryonic stem cells have a potential to cure most diseases, and the embryos used would have been discarded by fertility clinics [14].

Sources of stem cells
Cord blood stem cells: Blood from the placenta and umbilical cord that are left over after birth is a source of adult stem cells.
It is collected by removing the umbilical cord, cleansing it and withdrawing blood from the umbilical vein. This blood is then immediately analysed for infectious agents and the tissue type is determined. Cord blood is stored in liquid nitrogen for later use [15].

Adult Stem Cells: Stem cells can be found in adult beings.
Adult stem cells reproduce daily to provide certain specialized cells -e.g. 200 billion red blood cells are created each day in the body. Until recently, it was thought that each of these cells could produce just one type of particular cells -which is called diff erentiation. However, in the past few years, evidence has been gathered of stem cells that can transform into several different forms. Bone marrow stem cells are known to be able to transform into liver, nerve, muscle and kidney cells [14] ( Figure 1).
Adult stem cells may be even more versatile than this.  Stem cells are also apparently be able to repair mussel damage after heart attacks. Researchers at Columbia -Presbyterian found that injecting bone marrow stem cells into mice which had heart attacks induced resulted in an improvement of 33% in the functioning of the heart. The damaged tissue had re-grown by 68% [18,19].
Working with critically ill heart patients, researchers

Stem Cell research -controversy in the usage of knowledge
The controversy surrounding stem cell research led to an intense debate about ethics. Up until the recent years, the research method mainly focused on Embryonic Stem Cells, which involves taking tissue from an aborted embryo to get proper material to study. This is typically done just days after conception or between the 5th and 9th week.  There were two main issues concerning stem cell research with both pros and cons:

1.
How the knowledge will be used 2.
Concerns about the methods.
The fi rst issue is really not just about stem cell research, as it may be applied to most research about human health.

Conclusion
The stem cell-research is an example of the, sometimes diffi cult, cost-benefi t analysis in ethics which scientists needs to do. Even though many issues regarding the ethics of stem cell research have now been solved, it serves as a valuable example of ethical cost-benefi t analysis. When we are planning a research project, ethics must always be considered.
If we cannot defend a study ethically, we should not do it. The analysis needs to include human/animal discomfort/risks, environmental issues, material costs/benefi ts, economy etc.