Stem Cells 7

Stem Cells have recently been one of the most controversial medical topics on everyone’s mind. Due to the ethical and religious beliefs of many, stem cell research hasn’t been as productive as it could be. The governments of many countries have put limitations on what research can be preformed and some nations have completely outlawed all stem cell related procedures.   I believe that if given proper funding and accepted both ethically and religiously, stem cell research could save many lives, as well as offer hope millions of individuals.
    In 1998, James Thompson created the first human cell line, which would be responsible for thousands of future stem cell experiments to be preformed. The cells he obtained were from patients who went through the process of in vitro fertilization, who agreed to donate extra embryos for medical research purposes. After extracting the cells, the next obstacle in his way was how to ensure the survival of the embryos outside the human body. After living organisms such as bacteria and virus’s leave the body, scientists use cultures to supply them with the nutrients they need to survive. The same went for the embryos, and after much “trial and error”, he found a culture that supplied sufficient amounts of nutrients which allowed the cells to multiply without any ill affects. After months of observation and testing, the cells were injected into mice that lacked an immune system. As soon as this was done, the cells rapidly divided and formed a teratoma-like mass which contained all major human cell types, including skin, muscle, and bone. After these results, Thompson made his results public and proved that stem cells could be scientifically manipulated into becoming any type of tissue type in the human body. (Scott 1-3)
    On January 24, 2008 researchers completed another, previously thought impossible feat. The entire genome of a bacterium had been manufactured by attaching individual components of the organisms DNA. Dr. Venter...