When couples have difficulty conceiving a child by any other means, including artificial insemination, they may decide to try in vitro fertilization. In this process, the woman's eggs may be fertilized in the laboratory; the resulting embryos are then implanted into her uterus. Unused embryos that do not get implanted remain the responsibility of the parents from whose cells they are derived.
After fertilization has taken place, the extra embryos are frozen and stored. Today's techniques for freezing this tissue enable these tissues to retain their viability for a matter of years. The parents can decide to leave them in storage, donate them for medical research, hand them over to other couples who are having difficulty conceiving by any other means, or they may keep storing them until they decide their fate or elect to have them sent for destruction.
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells at an early stage of development. They have the potential to differentiate into other types o f mature cell. This is referred to as pluripotency. Stem cells are becoming increasingly useful as a medical treatment for all sorts of conditions. Because this procedure is open to serious abuse, it is tightly regulated.
Researchers at the University of Utah pioneered the procedure whereby a patient's own stem cells are injected into their left ventricle in an attempt to treat heart failure. At this point, they are called cardiac repair cells. They are derived from the patient's bone marrow and then cultured for just under fortnight, after which they are implanted into the heart. It turns out these cells are much hardier than the original cells that were harvested from the bone marrow.
Stem cells were first isolated from mice in 1981 and in humans in 1998. Some are derived from human embryos that were not used in IVF, although there are other sources. Stem cells may also be harvested from umbilical cords, bone marrow and peripheral blood. Stem cells have shown promise in treating many different medical conditions. These include cancer, neurological disorders and diabetes.
Bone marrow comes from rich deposits deep inside the larger bones of the human body, most notably the pelvic bone. This process is very painful so it is performed under a general anesthetic. A wide-bore needle is injected into the hip and then into the bone marrow from which the tissue is collected.
Typically, peripheral blood is not endowed with a plethora of stem cells. In this case, patients are prepared by giving them hormones called growth factors. This takes place a few days prior to harvesting. The actual collection process may take hours. Newborn blood is also rich in these cells. Some remain in the umbilical cord, which is set aside for future transplantation. To date, human umbilical cord cells have only been transplanted into small adults and children.
Once the parents are sure they do not want any more children, there are a number of things they can decide to do with the extra embryos. They may donate them for research, discard them or allow them to be passed on to other childless couples who are unable to conceive by other methods.
After fertilization has taken place, the extra embryos are frozen and stored. Today's techniques for freezing this tissue enable these tissues to retain their viability for a matter of years. The parents can decide to leave them in storage, donate them for medical research, hand them over to other couples who are having difficulty conceiving by any other means, or they may keep storing them until they decide their fate or elect to have them sent for destruction.
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells at an early stage of development. They have the potential to differentiate into other types o f mature cell. This is referred to as pluripotency. Stem cells are becoming increasingly useful as a medical treatment for all sorts of conditions. Because this procedure is open to serious abuse, it is tightly regulated.
Researchers at the University of Utah pioneered the procedure whereby a patient's own stem cells are injected into their left ventricle in an attempt to treat heart failure. At this point, they are called cardiac repair cells. They are derived from the patient's bone marrow and then cultured for just under fortnight, after which they are implanted into the heart. It turns out these cells are much hardier than the original cells that were harvested from the bone marrow.
Stem cells were first isolated from mice in 1981 and in humans in 1998. Some are derived from human embryos that were not used in IVF, although there are other sources. Stem cells may also be harvested from umbilical cords, bone marrow and peripheral blood. Stem cells have shown promise in treating many different medical conditions. These include cancer, neurological disorders and diabetes.
Bone marrow comes from rich deposits deep inside the larger bones of the human body, most notably the pelvic bone. This process is very painful so it is performed under a general anesthetic. A wide-bore needle is injected into the hip and then into the bone marrow from which the tissue is collected.
Typically, peripheral blood is not endowed with a plethora of stem cells. In this case, patients are prepared by giving them hormones called growth factors. This takes place a few days prior to harvesting. The actual collection process may take hours. Newborn blood is also rich in these cells. Some remain in the umbilical cord, which is set aside for future transplantation. To date, human umbilical cord cells have only been transplanted into small adults and children.
Once the parents are sure they do not want any more children, there are a number of things they can decide to do with the extra embryos. They may donate them for research, discard them or allow them to be passed on to other childless couples who are unable to conceive by other methods.
