What are Embryonic Stem Cells?
Embryonic stem cells are specialized cells derived from 3-to-5-day-old human embryos that are obtained through in-vitro fertilization in a laboratory setting.
What are Embryonic Stem Cell Injections?
Embryonic stem cell injections are a form of regenerative medicine. Embryonic stem cells can be injected, implanted, or transplanted into a person to repair dysfunctional, diseased, or injured tissue. The cells can be manipulated to develop into distinct types of cells, such as blood cells, nerve cells, or heart muscle cells. For example, if an individual is suffering from a defective heart muscle, embryonic stem cells can be injected into the defective heart muscle to help in repairing it.
Why are Embryonic Stem Cells Known as Specialized Cells?
Embryonic stem cells can change into any type of cell in the body. Under favorable conditions, embryonic stem cells can divide to form specialized cell types with a distinct function, such as heart muscle cells, brain cells, blood cells, or bone cells. No other cells in the human body have the natural ability to produce new cell types as embryonic stem cells.
How do Embryonic Stem Cell Injections Help Treat Diseases?
During an embryonic stem cell injection procedure, stem cells are first developed into specific adult cell types. These matured cells are then used to restore tissue that is damaged due to injury or disease. This type of stem cell injection treatment could be utilized to:
- Produce insulin to treat patients with diabetes
- Produce healthy heart muscle cells after a heart attack
- Replace neurons damaged by Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, or stroke
- Treat bone-joint injuries, ligament-tendon injuries, osteoarthritis, cartilage defects
- Restore damaged organs or tissues
Why is There Such an Interest in Embryonic Stem Cell Injections and Therapy?
There is a great deal of interest in embryonic stem cell injections and stem cell therapy research as they facilitate in understanding:
- How diseases occur by observing how stem cells develop into distinct cells in heart muscle, bones, and other organs
- Safety and effectiveness of new drugs by testing on stem cells before using them on people.
- Generation of healthy cells to replace unhealthy cells by guiding stem cells to become specific cells to repair and regenerate unhealthy or damaged tissues.
What are the Advantages of Embryonic Stem Cells Over Adult Stem Cells?
Some of the advantages of embryonic stem cells over adult stem cells include:
- They contain 10 times more stem cells than adult stem cells from bone marrow.
- They rarely contain any infectious diseases and are less likely to be rejected than adult stem cells.
- They are free from any abnormalities whereas adult stem cells are likely to contain irregularities due to environmental risk factors such as toxins and errors acquired by the cells through replication.
- They have a natural ability to produce new cell types but adult stem cells cannot be manipulated to generate distinct cell types.
- The versatility of embryonic stem cells facilitates in regenerating and repairing diseased organs and tissue.