Current Applications
Cancer is something that effects nearly every living person on our planet, whither it be them or someone close to them. It is the second leading cause of death throughout the world with it's earliest recorded cases appear from Egypt around 1600 B.C.
It is now known that cancer is caused when a cell containing damaged DNA begins to grow out of control. This cell continues to divide making more copies of itself and the place it originated is what you call it. No matter who you are it is still possible to get cancer because half of the men and a third of the women will get it in their lifetime. (14)
Cancer and Stem Cells
There are various cancer treatment options available presently, but none are 100% reliable. Some possibilities include surgery, chemo therapy, and radiation. Chemo therapy and radiation are very hard on the body, trying to kill as many cancer cells as possible, but it also kills the healthy cells like stem cells. After treatment, stem cells are then given to the patient by vein to soak into the bone marrow and continue production of healthy blood cells, making up for those who were destroyed. (15)
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There is an amazing product was first introduced in 2008 by "Professor Joerg C. Gerlach and colleages of the Department of Surgery at the University of Pittsburg’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine." The most dangerous part of getting a second degree burn is the long healing time allowing for infection to grow and become deadly, with the skin gun burns are healed in days. Reducing healing time from weeks to months to only a few days with the opportunity of saving countless lives in the future.
The spray gun pretty much works like a "paint spray gun" coating a layers of stem cells on the injured area. Only taking around an hour and a half, the patients healthy skin cells are then extracted and mixed in an aqueous solution to then be sprayed on the burn. (25)
The Skin Gun
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Throughout the United States and the world, major shortages in donated tissues and organs cause countless deaths that could be prevented. It has now become possible to grow needed tissues or organs for people by manipulating stem cells causing them to differentiate into the desired cell type. One of the first successful instances was for a 30-year-old mother of two who experienced severe shortness of breath making it difficult to take care of her own children. The current “conventional” treatment would be to “remove her left lung which carries a risk of complications and a high mortality rate”.
Engineered Tissues
The severity of the woman’s condition lead a team of doctors and scientists to work together. They proposed that a new lower trachea be bioengineered for the patient. To do this, a 51-year-old woman, who died of a stroke in Spain, donated a seven-centimeter tracheal segment. After being decellularised for six weeks, the donated trachea no longer contained any of the original donor cells, it had now become a skeleton for the new trachea. The patient’s bone marrow was extracted and with the use of a bioreactor, the bone marrow stem cells were able to differentiate into chondrocytes (cartilage cells) forming a new trachea for the patient. The transplant was successful and is now shining hope on the future of engineered tissues. (27)
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Future Applications
In the future, stem cell research can be put towards the previously unthinkable. For example, using stem cells, we can hopefully get closer to a cure for cancer. Cancer and cancerous tumors occur when there is a malfunction during the cell cycle when there is something wrong with the dividing cell, but it still somehow surpasses the check mechanisms throughout the process, causing abnormal cell division. This results in a backup of dead, empty cells, which form tumors. By studying the function of cancer in stem cells, it is not unreasonable to assume that we will one day find out how the cancerous cells bypass the check mechanisms, and figure out a method to stop it. (34)
Stem cells can also be used to safely test new drugs. Human pluripotent cell lines are ideal for testing out medications. For example, anti-tumor drugs for cancer patients are currently in trial with these cells. With a more widespread availability, stem cells could also be used to see how drugs affect different kinds of cells. (35)
Finally, stem cells are also being put towards regenerative medicines. Many animals, such as starfish and salamanders, can regrow lost parts of their bodies. This is, of course, an unreasonable goal, but there is hope behind it. Stem cells are found throughout tissues in the body, and are often used to heal injuries, but if cultivated, could potentially be used to create new tissues that the body will not reject. This is a massive bound forwards for transplants, as well as those with severe injuries. (36)