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stem cell project by caitlin allen
Stem Cell: A cell with the potential to develop into different types of cells such as a muscle, nerve, blood, or brain cell. For stem cells to be useful, they must be able to reproduce in sufficient numbers, develop into the desired cell type, survive transplantation, and function without harm throughout a lifetime. - Spinal Cord Injury Glossar Susan Spinasanta Senior Medical Editor SpineUniv stem cells can be totipotent, pluripotent or mulitpotent, denpeding on the totincy of each location of the body
The Stowers Institute for Medical Research seeks more effective means of preventing and curing disease through basic research on genes and proteins that control fundamental processes of cellular life.
Adult stem cells, as their name suggests, are located within the stem cells of an adult organism, specifically within the tissues. The majority of adult stem cells are tissue specific. This means that they only produce the cells from the tissue that the adult stem cell is located within. Since adult stem cells are located within adult tissues, there is considerably less controversy about researching from adult stem cells. This is because scientists can derive the stem cells from adult cell tissue samples so the answer to where do stem cells come from isn't controversial. This is remarkably different from destroying human embryos to access the embryonic stem cells, which is what some believe occurs when stem cells are harvested from aborted fetuses or from embryos. Adult stem cells are able to renew indefinitely—thus, there is no cap on the amount of times they might self reproduce. They multiply through the process of cell division, and replace dying cells and regenerate to replace and fix damaged tissue. from Dictionary.com
Stowers Institute only conducts sem cell research on animals, however they do conduct adult stem cell research on animals as well as humans. Stowers is a privately own operation, therefore they have the oppurtunity to explore some research much before other publicly funded institutes. The Stowers Institute is pro-choice. The company in general is in favor of stem cell research, their founders were inspired to create Stowers Institute after their own battles with struggle, they then decided they needed to do whatever they could to cure this awful disease and others like it. the debate of whether using embryonic stem cells is ethical is a big issue at Stowers, however they feel without the oppurtunity to explore other methods, surely a cure will not be in reach.
