Stem cell research has taken a huge
leap. Haruko Obokata, a researcher at the Riken Center for Developmental
Biology in Kobe, Japan, astounded the scientific world when she published an
article explaining her work on creating stem cells from white blood cells from
mice, using a little bit of acid. Obokata tested a variety of different
stresses on the blood cells, in hopes that one of these stresses would induce
totipotency. She found that when the cells were placed in citric acid of pH 5.7
for 30 minutes, the cells started behaving like stem cells after a couple days.
To prove these were in fact stem cells, Obokata grew entire mouse embryos from
these cells, effectively putting to rest any doubts in her discovery. This
finding is followed by another from a Japanese and American team, which used
the same technique, but this time utilized human skin cells to produce stem
cells that have the potential to develop into human embryos.
The simplicity and elegance of this
technique does not come without controversy. With this is the fear of cloning.
This procedure effectively allows for an exact copy of a person to be grown
from a couple of cells. While scientists do not plan to head in that direction,
and would surely face overwhelming opposition if so, just the prospect of
copying and producing an exact replica of a person from something as simple as a
skin cell has stimulated debate. It begets the question: how far is too far? Humans
have a long history in altering and disturbing nature, but the possibility of
creating another person artificially is where many draw the line.
However, this does not mean this
technique should be tucked away and locked in a vault, never to be utilized by
man. The implications of this are far and wide and could begin a new era of
medical treatment. The ability to create stem cells from a fully differentiated
cell means any type of cell, whether it be heart, liver, or any of the body,
can eventually be produced. This could effectively eliminate the issue of
tissue rejection, as cells can be taken from the patient and grown into a new
organ with the patient’s own DNA and markers. The simplicity of the technique
leaves the scientific world hopeful, and could solve the central controversy of
embryo use in stem cell research, which could lead to freer research and greater
changes in medicine.
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