Stem Cells And Its Effects On Development During The First...

Stem Cells: Embryonic stem cells are bodily cells that are in development during the first stages of life. These are the cells that will go on to make all of the body tissues of the offspring, like neurons, blood and skin cells. (Farrell et al.). With these human cells scientists can repair damaged tissue of diseased patients as well as study the diseases they have. Only recently have stem cells been available to collect and study. Currently, there are only a few methods of collection, such as retrieving them from in vitro fertilization: Aborted fetuses. However, these methods do not supply a constant source of the stem cells, and currently there are too few cultures of cells in labs to attempt any real medical advancement with. So, if†¦show more content†¦Experiments show that stem cells could be the answer to solving many medical problems that humans suffer from. Stem cells injected into damaged tissue repaired the cells there by dividing until all of the old cells were re placed. However, â€Å"20% of test animals injected with stem cells developed untreatable brain tumors† (Clouthier). Stem cells can divide endlessly and each time one divides, the daughter cells have a chance of being another stem cell, or a specialized cell for a specific function. Stem cells are unspecialized, meaning they have no specific purpose other than to repair damaged cells by replacing them. Adult stem cells are released in adults when tissue needs to be replaced, but stem cells from the blastocyst, the five day old group of cells of an unrecognizable fetus, are where researchers are interested most. In 1953, the precursor of what scientists know as stem cells was found by Leroy Stevens, who was studying cancer with mice. In their tumors he found a mix of specialized and unspecialized cells. In 1981, Martin Evans and Gail Martin derived stem cells from the embryos of mice. This was the first time ever in history that any form of stem cell was isolated. Then in 198 6, researchers found that they could revert connective tissue collected from mice back into mytoblasts, what generates