OLIVIA DAVIS

Can Stem Cells Be Used To Grow Replacement Parts?

Tissue Engineering

Tissue engineering is creating or fixing organs for the body from stem cells- which may be from the patient themselves or from a donor, pending on patient’s condition

Research has been done for a long time

Beneficial Story

Therese Blanda was diagnosed with leukemia.

To cure her leukemia, the doctors, funded by CIRM, made sure to turn her stem cells into blood cells to save her life

Risk Story

Eight children in a hospital in England received chemotherapy and dies about a month later.

During chemotherapy, all immature and cancerous cells are wiped out. To prevent stem cells from dying, they are taken out of the body and frozen

After being thawed out and replaced in body, the cells didn’t develop properly

Risks: Benefits:

Can be invasive- patient could not survive dangerous procedure

Stem cells might not develop properly in body

If DNA is taken from patient, no rejection from the immune system

Will help reduce number of people waiting for an organ

It can put patients with cancer into remission

Growing Replacements Parts from Stem Cells?

Sources

http://discovermagazine.com/2014/jan-feb/05-stem-cell-future http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/issue/feb2015/Feature1 http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/issue/feb2015/Feature1 http://

omicsonline.org/stemcell-transplantation-types-risks-and-benefits-2157-7633.1000114.php?aid=3123

https://www.cirm.ca.gov/patients/stories-hope http://www.bbc.com/news/health-30194504