Stem cell research

Stem cell research and ethics a series of 12 news articles, viewpoints and scientific reviews, Science, 287, 1417 (2000). 

Hu, X. and Zuckerman, K. 2001. Transforming growth factor signal transduction pathways, cell cycle mediation, and effects on hematopoiesis. Journal of Hematotherapy and Stem Cell Research 10(1), 67-74. 

The main focus of stem cell research over the last few decades has been directed to embryonic stem cells. However, more recently, research upon and an understanding of various populations of adult stem cells has gathered pace. Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells found amongst differentiated cells in a tissue or organ. These cells can renew themselves and can differentiate to yield the major cell types characteristic of the tissue in which they reside. The main physiological role of adult stem cells, therefore, appears to be to maintain and to repair (to a certain extent at least) the tissue in which they reside. 

Fernandes T.G. Diogo M.M. Clark D.S. Dordick J.S. Cabral J. High-throughput cellular microarray platforms Applications in drug discovery, toxicology and stem cell research. Trends in Biotechnology, 2009, 27, 342-349. 

There are two general avenues for stem cell research pluripotent and multipotent stem cells. Pluripotent stem cells are obtained by two methods. One method is to harvest the clusters of cells from the blastocysts of human embryos. Another method is the isolation of pluripotent cells from fetuses in terminated pregnancies. Multipotent stem cells are derived from umbihcal cords or adult... 

A burning issue is the ethics of obtaining pluripotent stem cells from embryos and fetuses. The US government has acted on this issue and declared that federal funds for stem cell research have to meet certain criteria. It requires that funding will only be provided to research with stem cells obtained before August 9, 2001, as a cut-off date to limit research to preexisting stem cells. Refer to Section 11.7 for an ethical debate on stem cells. 

National Institutes of Health. Stem Cell Research, NIH, Bethesda, MD, 2000. http // www.nih.gov/ [accessed November 25,2002]. 

We can divide cloning into therapeutic cloning and reproductive cloning. Therapeutic cloning is synonymous with stem cell research. Under proper control and environment, embryonic stem cells can potentially be directed to grow and develop into different tissues that are invaluable for replacing... 

As discussed in Section 4.7, stem cells have the potential to treat medical conditions beyond the scope that can be offered by drugs alone. However, there are many scientific and ethical hurdles to overcome. On the scientific front, stem cell research activities will intensify over the next decade. These challenges can broadly be divided into (1) determining how to develop stem cells into specific tissues and (2) implanting these tissues into the body without rejection by the recipient s immune system. On the ethical front, it is expected that there will be more debates on the ethical issues of stem cell research. Most scientists consent to therapeutic cloning (stem cell research) but not reproductive cloning. The ethical issue of stem cell research concerns harvesting cells from embryos that are a few days old. This action destroys the embryos. Some questions are ... 

In November 2003, the members of the Europe Parliament voted to approve embryonic stem cell research, using techniques similar to that adopted for cloning Dolly the sheep, although severe restrictions were put in place. For US scientists, however, the US legislation meant that they were only allowed to performed research using 12 existing sources of the embryonic stem cells and were not allowed to create any new sources. 

As gene therapy and stem cell research progress, we can expect more regulatory requirements to be developed to ensure proper safeguards are implemented. Similarly, xenotransplantation and control of biopharmaceutical products will experience specihe regulatory controls as new advances are made. Exhibit 11.13 presents the FDA s current oversight on gene therapy and its cautious approach to cancer vaccine. 

To whom correspondence should be addressed. Bruno Peault, Ph.D., Stem Cell Research Center, Children s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Rangos Research Center, Pittsburgh, USA, e-mail bruno.peault chp.edu... 

Huntly, B. and Gilliland, D. (2005) Leukaemia stem cells and the evolution of cancer-stem-cell research. Nat Rev Cancer 5,311-321. 

This publication was initiated on the occasion of the NATO-Advanced Study Institute (ASI) meeting Stem Cells and their potential for clinical application which took place from August 23 - 25, 2006 in Kyiv and from August 26-31, 2006 in Simeiz, Ukraine. The meeting was devoted to hot topics in Stem cell research such as Regulation of Haematopoietic and Non-haematopoietic Stem Cells, Clinical Application of Stem Cells, Preclinical Models and Gene Therapy. 

No studies have been carried out on the fuels used by isolated stem cells but, on the basis that they are either proliferating or possess the ability to proliferate rapidly, as with lymphocytes and tumour cells, it is assumed that they utilise glucose and/or glutamine as fuels. If the latter, it could be important in stem cell research and in the clinical use of stem cells. 

In the eighth decade of his life, Berg remains active both as a researcher and as an advocate for the scientific community at the state and federal levels. In addition to serving as chair of the scientific advisory committee of the Human Genome Project, he has spoken and written in support of federal and state financing for stem cell research, human cloning, and other forms of biotechnology. 

FFF is still a growing area of research and there are specific fields of application pushing toward innovations both in terms of instrumentation and methodology. For example, MgFFF has been developed specifically for stem cell research, and FIFFF (either FIF FIFFF or AsFlFFF and traditional FIFFF) is driven overall by pharmaceutical-biological applications. In addition, as for others analytical techniques, the new tendency for FFF is toward miniaturization of the instruments. As examples we cite the hollow fiber channel for FIFFF [49], the microthermal unit developed by Janca [50], the microthermal-electrical unit by Gale and coworkers [51], or the SPLITT cells by Hoyos and coworkers [52]. In this regard, we should say that some important but very specialized topics were not reviewed here such as the SPLITT cells and separation channels similar to FFF that are useful for preparative aims, as they would require a detailed description which has already been reported in books and reviews [53,54]. 

Challenges That Face Stem Cell Research... 

Such control over the mechanical strength of the supramolecular gel network is of particular interest for applications in cell culture, particularly in stem cell research because the elastic modulus of cell substrates has been found to dictate the differentiation pathways chosen by mesenchymal stem cells [57]. 

Takeshi Akasaka Burnham Institute for Medical Research, Del E. Webb Neuroscience, A fin t and Stem Cell Research Center, La Jolla, CA, USA Eiji Ando Life Science Laboratory, Analytical and Measuring Instruments Division, Shimadzu Corporation, Kyoto, Japan... 

This work was supported in part by The Adult Stem Cell Research Foundation (TASCRI C.B. and A.R.) and a young investigator fellowship of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture, bm bwk (A.R.). The Austrian Nano-Initiative co-financed this work as part of the Nano-FIealth project (no. 0200), the sub-project NANO-STEM being financed by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF Project no. N211-NAN). 

Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in stem cell research the derivation of ESCs from human blastocysts [9], the development of somatic cell nuclear transfer technology [10] and the confirmation that neurogenesis occurs in the adult... 

Volume I, Adult Neurogenesis and Neural Stem Cells, provides an overview and in-depth analysis of the new field of stem cell research that is the generation of new neuronal cells and the existence of stem cells, in the adult brain of mammals. These discoveries have forced us to re-think and re-evaluate how the brain is functioning, and reveal that the adult brain has the potential for self-repair. This volume covers the basic science of adult neurogenesis and neural stem cell research, from the origin, mechanisms, function, and the therapeutic potential of adult NSCs. 

Volume III, Pharmacology and Therapy, addresses developments in basic science, translational and clinical research that are underway to bring stem cell research to therapy, particularly for the treatment of Batten s diseases, graft-versus-host disease and adenosine deaminase deficiency. This volume covers the importance of stem cell research for the understanding of drug activities and design. It also addresses the ethical issues and constraints involved in stem cell research, and its commercial applications. 

There are ethical considerations in the use of stem cells for research and therapy. ESCs have been derived from the ICM of human embryos (hECSs) [18]. hESCs are derived from leftover frozen embryos, created for in vitro fertilization, destined to be discarded. Because it involves the destruction of embryos, there is a debate over the use of hESCs for research and therapy. On one hand, there are scientific reports and evidence that ESCs, including hESCs, differentiate into various cell types of the body, such as neuronal and insulin producing cells [19], backing the scientific claim of the potential of ESCs for therapy. On the other hand, opponents of the use of hESCs for research and therapy argue that it is morally unacceptable to destroy human life. The scientific and ethical debate over the use of hESCs for research and therapy considerably slows stem cell research. 

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