Couples who are having problems conceiving a child may sometimes resort to a procedure called in vitro fertilization. This is usually after they have been unsuccessful with artificial insemination. The woman's eggs are harvested and placed into a petri dish and then fertilized with her partner's sperm. The resulting embryos are then implanted into the woman's womb. Unused embryos are frozen and stored until the parents of the embryos decide what should be done with them.
These spare embryos remain frozen and stored. With today's tissue-freezing methods, these spare embryos retain their viability for many, many years. The parents can decide to keep them in storage, pass them on to other childless couples who are unable to conceive or donate them for scientific research using stem cells. This is becoming an extremely popular process with couples who find themselves unable to produce their own embryos via in vitro fertilization. The parents of the excess embryos may also ultimately decide to discard them.
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.
Scientists at a Utah university first injected stem cells into the hearts of patients as a therapeutic strategy for heart failure. Cells were derived from the patient's bone marrow and then cultured for just short of two weeks. Those that survived in tissue culture became stronger than the patient's original bone marrow. These cells were then placed into the left side of the patients' hearts.
The first time stem cells were isolated from mice was in 1981; in humans, it was 1998. These cells may arise from spare human embryos that did not need to be implanted. Other places where stem cells come from include peripheral blood, umbilical cords and bone marrow. Other conditions apart from heart failure where stem cells have been used include diabetes, neurological problems and cancer.
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.
Under normal physiological conditions, peripheral blood does not contain vast numbers of stem cells. Loading the donors with hormonal growth factors leads to a notable increase in the numbers of these cells. Neonatal blood is teeming with stem cells. Those remaining in the umbilical cord are removed and stored at extremely low temperatures, as low as -200 Kelvin and reserved for transplantation at a later date or until the parents decide what to do with them.
Once the couples who have been storing embryos are sure they no longer want any more children, their spare embryos may be donated to other couples, to scientific research or they may be ultimately destroyed.
These spare embryos remain frozen and stored. With today's tissue-freezing methods, these spare embryos retain their viability for many, many years. The parents can decide to keep them in storage, pass them on to other childless couples who are unable to conceive or donate them for scientific research using stem cells. This is becoming an extremely popular process with couples who find themselves unable to produce their own embryos via in vitro fertilization. The parents of the excess embryos may also ultimately decide to discard them.
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.
Scientists at a Utah university first injected stem cells into the hearts of patients as a therapeutic strategy for heart failure. Cells were derived from the patient's bone marrow and then cultured for just short of two weeks. Those that survived in tissue culture became stronger than the patient's original bone marrow. These cells were then placed into the left side of the patients' hearts.
The first time stem cells were isolated from mice was in 1981; in humans, it was 1998. These cells may arise from spare human embryos that did not need to be implanted. Other places where stem cells come from include peripheral blood, umbilical cords and bone marrow. Other conditions apart from heart failure where stem cells have been used include diabetes, neurological problems and cancer.
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.
Under normal physiological conditions, peripheral blood does not contain vast numbers of stem cells. Loading the donors with hormonal growth factors leads to a notable increase in the numbers of these cells. Neonatal blood is teeming with stem cells. Those remaining in the umbilical cord are removed and stored at extremely low temperatures, as low as -200 Kelvin and reserved for transplantation at a later date or until the parents decide what to do with them.
Once the couples who have been storing embryos are sure they no longer want any more children, their spare embryos may be donated to other couples, to scientific research or they may be ultimately destroyed.
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