This article explains that regenerative medicine using stem cells may offer revolutionary possibilities for treating incurable diseases, covers the types and characteristics of stem cells, and discusses the ethical issues and legal restrictions that such research faces.
The idea of living a long and healthy life is an ancient human desire. This desire has led to the constant exploration and development of human life, and as a result, we have the medical technology and various treatment methods we have today. One of them is regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine is the study of how damaged tissues or organs can repair or replace themselves, contributing to prolonging human life and improving quality of life.
The core concept of regenerative medicine is the utilization of stem cells. One of the main goals of the field is to use stem cells to treat various incurable diseases. Although the term regenerative medicine may sound unfamiliar at first, the concept is not that difficult. Simply put, it”s the use of stem cells to regenerate damaged tissues and restore health. In recent years, stem cells have become increasingly important and are being studied.
Stem cells are cells that can become any tissue within an organism. These cells have the ability to differentiate into different tissues under certain conditions. New cells derived from stem cells can replace diseased cells, which is the basic principle of regenerative medicine. Since most incurable diseases are caused by damage to body tissues, many incurable diseases can be treated with stem cells. For example, when stem cells are injected into the damaged area of a heart attack, they differentiate into new heart cells and heal the damage.
Stem cells also show great promise for degenerative diseases. Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative brain disease caused by the death of dopamine-secreting nerve cells, is most effectively treated by transplanting fetal brain tissue. However, transplanting fetal brain tissue can pose ethical issues, so stem cell therapy is emerging as the best alternative. In addition, stem cells can be used in drug discovery research or as samples for chemical tests. In addition, stem cells can be used to treat hair loss and prevent skin aging, so stem cells are contributing to improving the quality of human life.
The driving force that enables stem cells to differentiate into various cells is their differentiation capacity. Stem cells can be categorized into three different levels of differentiation: totipotent, pluripotent, and multipotent. Totipotency refers to the ability to form a complete entity, such as a fertilized egg. Pluripotency is the ability to differentiate into all the different types of cells that make up an organism, even though it cannot form a complete organism. Finally, pluripotency is the ability to differentiate into only a limited number of cell types. Each organ of the body contains a small number of stem cells that are pluripotent, meaning they can only differentiate into a limited number of cell types.
There are two types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells, which are derived from embryos, and adult stem cells, which are present in the human body. More recently, induced pluripotent stem cells have emerged, which are created by inducing reverse differentiation in already differentiated cells. Each of these stem cells has different characteristics and potential applications, and it is important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each and to utilize them in appropriate applications.
In embryonic stem cells, an embryo is a fertilized egg formed by the union of a sperm and an egg, and embryonic stem cells are extracted from the embryo after fertilization but before implantation. Since embryonic stem cells are derived from dividing cells, they are highly differentiated. However, because they are highly differentiated, they have the potential to become cancerous cells, so they require precise technology. In addition, they are extracted from fertilized eggs, which raises ethical issues, and they can cause immune rejection when transplanted into patients.
Cloned embryonic stem cells are another type of stem cell being researched to overcome the limitations of conventional embryonic stem cells. Instead of deriving cells from a fertilized egg, cloned embryonic stem cells are derived from an artificially created cloned embryo using a somatic cell nucleus and an egg. Therefore, using a patient’s own somatic cell nucleus can solve the problem of immune rejection. However, since a cloned embryo can be considered a living being, it raises the ethical issues of life destruction and human cloning.
Unlike embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells are stem cells that exist in the human body, with small amounts in each organ. Because they come from the human body, they are the easiest stem cells to work with, with no immune rejection issues, but as mentioned earlier, their low differentiation capacity is a limitation. Nonetheless, adult stem cells have attracted the attention of many researchers due to their practicality and safety, and their range of applications is constantly expanding.
New stem cells that can overcome the limitations of these two types of stem cells are currently being studied. Induced pluripotent stem cells, which are stem cells made by inducing reverse differentiation of already differentiated cells, are made from a single cell, so there is no ethical problem of destroying life. In addition, they have excellent differentiation power, so they can differentiate into all kinds of cells in the body. However, a lot of research is still needed before they can be commercialized.
In addition to the limitations of stem cell research itself, stem cell research has been hampered by social opposition and legal restrictions on the unethical nature of stem cell research. In fact, the United Kingdom is the only country that legally allows stem cell research. In this situation, social consensus and legal mechanisms are needed to advance stem cell research. If this social debate is actively carried out, stem cell research will be able to develop faster and more stably. As you can see, stem cells have a lot of potential applications, but they are still a long way from commercialization. We look forward to the day when stem cells will be used directly for human happiness as research continues.
