A primer on stem cells

Feb

A primer on stem cells

Posted by Ginkgo100 Labels: ethics, explanations, human rights, science, stem cells

You may know that I write science articles for the a science and technology website called Bright Hub. I just completed a short series on the basics of stem cells: terminology, classification, and sources. Each article is meant to stand alone, so they are a little repetitive.

These are not opinion pieces, so I did not express my personal strenuous opposition to any use of embryonic stem cells. I did carefully note in every article in which embryonic stem cells are mentioned that harvesting embryonic stem cells kills the embryo.

Only one article is about stem cell treatments. That's because I was only assigned to write one. Here are the links:

Would you like to see me write more about stem cells? Are there any particular topics you would like to see covered? I can always write as much as I like in this space, and I can ask my editor for more stem cell assignments at Bright Hub.

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Katherine · 839 weeks ago

Is it true that scientists and researchers have not yet been able to use embryonic stem cels therapeutically? I mean, heterologous.

1 reply · active 838 weeks ago

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Ginkgo100 38p · 838 weeks ago

My understanding is that currently, no embryonic stem cell (ESC) treatments have been developed. The problem seems to be that pluripotent cells are too potent, and tend to develop into tumors called teratomas. The multipotent and oligopotent "adult" stem cells have been much more useful so far.

The blog Mary Meets Dolly, on my sidebar, is a great source of information on stem cell treatments. Check it out for more info.

I'll try to post some things here about stem cell research results, too. Thanks for your comment!