STEM CELL
TECHNOLOGY
BY JOHN HANSON
WHAT?
•Stem cell technology is a new type of technology that enables people to recover from
•Stem cell technology is a new type of technology that enables people to recover from
•They are non specialised cells that can be turned into other cells by growth factors and different types of chemicals. Stem cells are remarkable cells whose fate has not yet been 'decided'. They can turn into a variety of different cell types by a process known as 'differentiation'.
•Non specialised cells are cells that do not have a purpose or meaning. For example you have a skin cell they are found in and on your skin. A liver cell is found in and on your liver. A non- specialised cell is basically just a cell.
WHEN?
•You can use stem cells in animals in some ways but you cannot use it in humans yet without a licence or mixing between humans and animals.
•The treatment is used in a surgical treatment in some hospitals that are well known and very high up in the terms of technology.
•It can cure some diseases and scientists and researchers are trying to find ways to make the treatment better and more simple.
•Then can be used to cure most diseases such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, spinal injury, diabetes and many more diseases.
•Stem cell first started in February 1997 when scientists announced the birth of Dolly the sheep which was the first mammal to be cloned by nuclear transfer from adult cells.
It is still being researched today and is being asked by the Government to see if they are allowed to treat people with it.
HOW?
•If someone has a spinal injury and cannot walk, such as the original superman and stem cell treatment can cure it, how would it be used?
•Well, firstly you need to take a skin cell from the person that has got the disease.
•Secondly you take a woman's egg left over from IVF treatment. Next you remove the nucleus from the egg, which contains the DNA.
•Then you place the skin cell DNA into the egg. You then zap the egg with electricity and the egg begins to divide.
•The egg is then left to grow for one week. Stem cells are taken from the embryo and put in sterile flasks.
•The stem cells grow and multiply in the laboratory before being planted in the patients body. The stem cells are only the patients DNA so they are not rejected.
DISEASES
•Diseases can be cured by stem cell technology just like normal treatment on the page before.
•There are many different people with all different diseases such as diabetes, cancer and millions more. Thee are over 1 billion people with a disease across the world and approximately 160 million people with diabetes.
•If stem cell helped people with these diseases then this number would be a lot less.
Last Modified: 12/01/2007