
Stem cells were implanted into a paraplegic rat. Stem cells have potential to turn into diverse
types of cells. They also can help
repair tissue, and replace and replenish cells.
As the stem cell divides, it can stay a cell, or become another type of
cell. These new cells can serve distinct
functions throughout the body such as muscle, blood, and brain cells. Knowing this, rats were then implanted with stem
cells to see if recovery would occur. These
rats could not walk and did not feel anything in the legs. Injuries such as these can come from spinal
cord injuries, recovering from an injury resulting in you being paraplegic is
typically very hard to do. Dr. Shulamit
Levenberg, and the rest of the researches thought to implant human stem cells
into these laboratory rats with a complete spinal cord transection. The stem cells that were implanted into the
rats were used from a human mouth. The
team built a 3D scaffold that let the cells turn into support cells. The cells were treated to be able to react
well with the rat’s neurons. The rats
that had the stem cells implanted showed recovery in sensory and motor
skills. These rats also had remarkable
growth in hind limbs and tail. Compared
to the non-treated rats this was remarkable, since the non-treated rats had no improvement
in their sensory and motor skills. Spinal
cords for the implanted rats showed recovery.
Many stem cell implanted rats experienced rapid growth and
recovery, there were others who did not.
Researchers are still curious as to why stem cells worked on some rats,
but not on others. This work is very
important to figure out, because if we can learn how to perfect stem cell surgery
on rats, then humans can potentially be new test subjects. Stem cells can help replenish many cells, and
eventually lead to stopping or treating diseases.
https://financialtribune.com/articles/economy-sci-tech/63229/stem-cell-breakthrough-for-treating-arthritis
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171116132800.htm
Stem cells really intrigue me, because I think in a lot of ways they are going to be the future of medicine and treatment of many diseases. The ethical problems and political problems surrounding them is going to make research in the field difficult, but once people begin to see the implications of them, legislation will hopefully adapt.
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