Essay: Human Stem Cell Research

Today we all have heard about stem cells, as miraculous vaccine from almost any, even the most severe illness. At the same time, we almost did not know about them that is not quite correct, because many scientists are predicting the greatest future of stem cells in the high-tech medicine. But whether stem cells really can cure any man of any illness?

Stem cell research is, first of all, getting an in-depth knowledge of how an organism develops out of a single cell and how healthy cells can replace damaged in adult organisms. This is a promising area of science, which is often referred to as regenerative and reparative medicine, explores the possibility of cell therapy for the treatment of diseases. Stem cells research is  one of the most fascinating areas of biology today, which is quite true. In this work it is necessary to consider the essence and main issues related to stem cells.

Human Stem Cell Research

Stem cells research is one of the modern trends of biomedicine. In scientific world the term “stem cell” was introduced in 1908 at a congress of hematologic society in Berlin. Research in the field of blood stem cells have evolved since the early 1950s. 1970-es of the twentieth century was marked by great success in studying the cellular composition of bone marrow and the opening of its mesenchymal stroma (stromal) stem cells by a group of Soviet scientists. (Kiessling 2003)

In the laboratory, in 1981 American biologist M.Evans first isolated undifferentiated pluripotent stem cell lines – mouse blastocyst. The same methods were then used to produce human stem cells, but due to problems related to their isolation and cloning, it was only in 1998 when D.Tompson D.Gerhart revealed an immortal line of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). In 1999 the journal Science found the discovery of embryonic stem cells as the third most important event in biology after decoding the DNA double helix and the “Human Genome Project”. A journal «Science» recognized this innovation the greatest discovery of the XX century: “The use of blood stem cells is a new branch of medicine that is able to turn traditional ideas about the possibilities of treatment of many diseases, from heart attack and stroke to cirrhosis and cancer of the blood”. Further research on this subject is stimulated by opportunities of medical use of stem cells to treat sick or injured tissue, as a reparative or regenerative resources. (Kiessling 2003)

Stem cells have attracted great interest of both scholars and the general public not only because it may well be the key to healing age disease of heart, but also because of their direct use in medicine is very attractive. Experts in the field of cell technology created the newest methods and devices for obtaining stem cells not only from bone marrow tissue, but also from the peripheral blood, placenta, umbilical cord blood. Clinical practice has shown high therapeutic efficacy of their use in various profiles of practical medicine (cardiovascular disease, liver disease, digestive system, blood system, musculoskeletal system, nervous system, psychiatric, kidney, male and female reproductive organs, etc.)

So next it is necessary to consider what is a stem cell, and what qualities make them special?