Promise and Peril of Stem Cells

J. Kirk Brown

Tracy High School

Cloning in the News

What are Stem Cells?

NIH Definitions

Stem cells - cells that have the ability to divide for indefinite periods in culture and to give rise to specialized cells.

Pluripotent -capable of giving rise to most tissues of an organism.

Totipotent - having unlimited capability. Totipotent cells have the capacity to specialize into extraembryonic membranes and tissues, the embryo, and all postembryonic tissues and organs.

Totipotent vs. Pluripotent Stem Cells

What are Stem Cells?

What are Stem Cells?

Source of Stem Cells

ES vs EG linesEmbryonic Stem Cells

From IVF embryos

Embryonic Germ Cells From Aborted Fetuses

Major Ethical Issues Two Major Issues:

For those who believe that the embryo has the moral status of a person from the moment of conception, research (or any other activity) that would destroy the embryo is considered wrong and should not take place.

For those who believe otherwise, arriving at an ethically acceptable policy in this arena involves a complex balancing of a number of important ethical concerns. Although many of the issues remain contested on moral grounds, they co-exist within a broad area of consensus upon which public policy can, at least in part, be constructed.

ETHICAL ISSUES IN HUMAN STEM CELL RESEARCH VOLUME I Report and Recommendations of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission Sept 1999

What about Adult Stem Cells?

Some Stem cells live in the body of humans. Most of these cells are called Multipotent (most

adult stem cells). They can be induced to become fewer tissues than Pluripotent Stem cells that are derived from Embryos.

New research is showing that we can induce adult stem cells to become more pluripotent.

Pluripotent Blood Stem Cells

Umbilical Cord Blood Storage for Pluripotent Stem Cells COMPANYWEBSITE Alpha Cordwww.alphacord.com California Cryobank, Inc.www.cryobank.com Cord Blood Registrywww.cordblood.com CorCellwww.corcell.com CORD,Inc.www.cordbloodforlife.com CordPartnerswww.cordpartners.com Cryo-Cell Int.www.cryo-cell.com Future Health Technologies(UnitedKingdom)www.futurehealthtechnologies.com GeneAngelwww.geneangel.com Lifebank, Inc.www.lifebankusa.com Lifebank Cryogenics Corp.(Canada) www.lifebank.com New England Cord Blood Bank, inc.www.cordbloodbank.com Securacell, Inc.www.securacell.comUK Cord Blood Bank

(United Kingdom)www.cordbloodbank.co.ukViaCordwww.viacord.com

Potential Benefits

Organ shortage (long term)

Tissues for Treatments (shorter term) Valves, Skin,

Nerves for Spinal Cord Injuries

Diabetes (Type 1)

Concerns

Stem Cell Sources

Limits with Sources

Embryo vs Fetus Rights of Fetus Rights of Embryo

Next Steps

Educate the Public Read about the Issues Become informed voters California is Leading the U.S.

Proposition 71 provides $3 billionin state funding over next decade

                                                                                                      

S. Korea Gives OK to Stem-Cell Research

Patents PAT. NO.  Title

6,258,998  Method of cloning porcine animals  6,265,546  Prostate cancer gene  6,147,276  Quiescent cell populations for nuclear

transfer in the production of non-human mammals and non-human mammalian embryos 

6,255,112  Regulation of hematopoietic stem cell differentiation by the use of human mesenchymal stem cells  6,271,436  Cells and methods for the generation of transgenic pigs 

5,776,679  Assays for the DNA component of human telomerase 

6,248,527  Method of detecting risk of type II diabetes based on mutations found in carboxypeptidase E 

Bibliography

ETHICAL ISSUES IN HUMAN STEM CELL RESEARCH VOLUME I Report and Recommendations of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission National Bioethics Advisory Commission Sept 1999

Berg, Paul Biochem 118 Lecture Stanford University http://cmgm.stanford.edu/biochem118/Stem%20Cell.html Accessed 1/17/2005

Human Stem Cell Research Promise and Problems http://www.northwestern.edu/science-outreach/stemcell/stemcells.html Accessed 1/17/2005

Picture at the top http://science.howstuffworks.com/brain1.htm National Institutue of Health

http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics4.asp http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~sfl/rlb_stem.htm drawn image