Babies from same-sex couples possible thorugh stem cell research

Scientists at Cambridge University and the Weizmann Institute in Israel have made a breakthrough in stem cell research that will allow same sex couples to have babies.  They have found that it is possible to create human egg and sperm cells from skin, helping gay and lesbian couples, as well as sterile couples have children of their own.   

The skin from five adults was taken and used to create stem cells that make eggs and sperm.  “In total, they have created new cell lines from ten different donor sources - five embryos and five adults.”  The engineered cells were compared to those of human fetuses and it is said the process will be able to provide same sex couples with a baby in no more than two years.

This procedure has already sparked interest in gay communities because of the possibility of creating a baby from two people of the same sex.  Also, because the cells are created on a slide outside of the human body, the cells do not age the way they are meant to meaning that mutations are most likely to not be passed on to the next generation making it even more desirable.

Gays and lesbians have to go through so much throughout their lives in an attempt to be accepted by others and to be treated as equals.  I think it is an amazing thing that scientists are attempting to find ways to allow them to have a child of their own.  Adoption is a long, hard process with no guarantee of a child but this process seems to be a lot more reliable. I would love to see more discussion of this project in the future and I hope to see it completely enacted and helping the gay community in two years time.

Creating Brain Cells From Human Skin Cells to Help Huntington's Patients

Stem cell development is a promising area of research, and holds a lot of secrets to cell development. However stem cells are highly controversial, which limits the possibilities for research in these areas. Stem cells allow for the potential of  being able to create needed cells for the body that cannot be produced on their own, such as brain cells. With diseases like ALS (Lou Gehrig's) and Huntington's, brain cells degenerate and the brain is unable to recreate those lost cells.

Brain with and without Huntington's

At Washington University in St. Louis, researchers have just discovered a new way to create brain cells needed for Huntington's patients. This method avoids using stem cells, which makes it less controversial, and also avoids creating multiple cell types that usually comes with stem cell research. These cells were created from human skin cells and converted directly into brain cells.The types of brain cells created are medium spiny neurons, and they are the cells that degenerate in a Huntington's patient. They are responsible for controlling movement, which causes uncontrollable, jerky movements in a patient who has degeneration of those neurons. These brain cells were then transplanted into mice, where they were found to have lived at least 6 months. These cells also behaved similarly to native brain cells of the mice.

Medium Spiny Neurons

The DNA in any cell of a person's body contains the instructions on how to be any type of cell seen in the body. The researchers found two microRNAs that are used in packaging the part of the DNA that codes for brain cells. These cells, when exposed to these 2 microRNAs, were able to be changed into neurons. These neurons could then be changed into specific neurons, such as medium spiny neurons, by being exposed to transcription factors specific to those neurons. Without the microRNAs, the transcription factors alone were not enough to create the neurons. This new method of creating brain cells is planned to be tested with Huntington's patients, and also being tested on mice with a model of Huntington's.

This research break-though is astounding. Patients diagnosed with Huntington's typically are diagnosed with a death sentence of 15-20 years. Usually patients either die by infection or commit suicide. This research gives those with degenerative brain diseases hope. With this research there is the potential to repair crucial cells that have been destroyed. It also allows for hope in families with the disease that even if it is passed down to their children that there may be a way to keep the disease from ever being debilitating.

Source: Human Skin Cells Reprogrammed Directly Into Brain Cells

Stem Cells and Their Ability to Stick Together

According to an article published on Science Daily, researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the Current Biology, found that the protein Oct4 was actually responsible for the stem cells' ability to stick together. The researchers found that when stem cells separate they tend to differentiate into mature cells of different parts of the body. However, if these stem cells stick together, with the help of Oct4, then they will not differentiate and will continue on as stem cells.

University of Edinburgh found that they may be able to maintain stem cells in their purest form until needed for medical use. This research, which was published in the journal
I think that this is an absolutely remarkable find. Stem cells are a very important part of medicine and gaining a better understanding of how to maintain them can lead to so many breakthroughs in the medical field. Doctors may finally be able to treat, or even cure, degenerative diseases which plague people everywhere and we can finally be able to give people their lives back.

Protein that keeps people,skeletons organized

Liver kinase b1 (Lkb1) are found to be an important protein that helps keep people organized as it promotes healthy skeletal growth and prevents skeletal tumors.  Studies found that the Lkb1 protein controls the progression of immature, dividing cells into larger, mature cells that are fully distinguished cartilage cells.  Lkb1 protein is vital to human beings because without it immature cartilage cells grow unevenly which increases ones chance of developing skeletal tumors.

            Lkb1 suppresses the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway which is used to promote growth in response to available nutrients and other factors.  An error in the Lkb1 protein has been suggested to cause problems in humans such as obesity, depression and many cancers.  Abnormal Lkb1 isn’t just limited to the skeleton it also has been associated with lung, breast, cervical, intestinal, testicular, pancreatic and skin cancers also in patients with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome characterized by benign polyps in gastrointestinal tract. Gaining knowledge of Lkb1 and what mechanisms control normal skeletal development can aid in preventing the cells from going awry and developing into cancer and other disorders.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131114094947.htm

http://stemcell.usc.edu/2013/11/12/usc-study-reveals-a-protein-that-keeps-people-and-their-skeletons-organized/#more-1788

Human Testing May Now Be Possible

"Human-on-a-chip"  is a groundbreaking system in the bio-medical industry.  Imagine the ability to bypass the long process of animal and human trials in the testing of drugs? Researchers at the University of Central Florida discovered a way to use stem cells to grow neuromuscular junctions between human muscle cells and human spinal cord cells.  This new breakthrough in science allows us to create miniature fully functioning organs. Testing on human organs opposed to mice and other organisms cuts out any reason of doubt in clinical trials. This may hold the key in the treatment of of many spinal cord injuries and diseases such as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. James Hickman and his colleagues at UCF have received about $1.4 million in grant funding from The National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the Federal Drug Administration to help push this research forward.