Pros and Cons of Using Various Stem Cells
- Abundant somatic cells of donor can be used
- Issues of histocompatibility with donor/recipient transplants can be avoided
- Very useful for drug development and developmental studies
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Adult Stem Cells
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Embryonic Stem Cells
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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
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Pros
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- Trans differentiate and and reprogramming of these cells is possible but is not well studied
- Thought to be less likely to be rejected if used in transplants
- Success has already been demonstrated in various clinical applications
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- Can maintain and grow for 1 year or more in culture
- Established protocols for maintenance in culture
- ESCs are pluripotent cells that can generate most cell types
- By studying ESCs, more can be learned about the process of development
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- Abundant somatic cells of donor can be used
- Issues of histocompatibility with donor/recipient transplants can be avoided
- Very useful for drug development and developmental studies
- Information learned from the “reprogramming” process may be transferable for in vivo therapies to reprogram damaged or diseased cells/tissues
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Cons
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- Limitations on ASC ability to differentiate are still uncertain; currently thought to be multi or unipotent.
- Cannot be grown for long periods of time in culture
- Usually a very small number in each tissue making them difficult to find and purify
- Currently there is no technology available to generate large quantities of stem cells in culture
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- Process to generate ESC lines is inefficient
- Unsure whether they would be rejected if used in transplants.
- Therapies using ESC avenues are largely new and much more research and testing is needed
- If used directly from the ESC undifferentiated culture prep for tissue transplants, they can cause tumors (teratomas) or cancer development
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- Methods for ensured reproducibility and maintenance, as differentiated tissues are not certain.
- Viruses are currently used to introduce embryonic genes and has been shown to cause cancers in mouse studies
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Ethical Concerns
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- No major ethical concerns have been raised
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- To acquire the inner cell mass the embryo is destroyed
- Risk to female donors being consented
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- iPS cells have the potential to become embryos if exposed to the right conditions
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