To create embryonic stem cells for research, a "stem cell line" must be created form the inner cell mass of a week-old embryo. ... The ultimate goal for the embryonic stem cell is for their use as a "universal human donor cell" an "in-stock item that could serve as raw material for new liver cells or new spinal cord cells" (Tenebaum) The significance of this, compared to our current methods are that various stocks of stem cell parts could be held, allowing replacement of dysfunctional cells in the body without the need for cross matching immune compatibility to a donor or chemically suppress...

• Word Count: 1512
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The immune system is weak in individuals with Type 1 Diabetes and cannot effectively protect the body from viruses or bacteria that a normal system would be able to protect. In addition, the immune system attacks beta cells in the pancreas, which is an issue because these cells produce insulin, the hormone that helps the body move glucose throughout the body to use it for energy. As a result, in a diabetic immune system, the pancreas in unable to produce insulin to move glucose around, so the glucose stays in the blood ("Type 1 Diabetes- What is Diabetes?... The issue of embryonic stem ce...

• Word Count: 3172
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

(AAAS) There is promise in the field of auto-immune disease research also as stem cells could be introduced into patients and thus rebuild a healthy immune system. Immune deficiencies represent a variety of maladies such as AIDS, lupus and Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome. ... In many of these states however, the law does not take effect unless the injured fetus has reached an age of 24 weeks, a point at which a fetus could conceivably live on its own outside of the uterus. ...

• Word Count: 2597
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Doctors discourage this immune response by prescribing powerful anti-rejection drugs that patients must take for life. Although the cells created through therapeutic cloning would not have this problem, they would be derived from the patient and the immune system would recognise the cells as the body's own. ... A developing embryo two weeks old is far less complex than any of these organisms, at the time the stem cells are extracted, the organism is no larger than the full stop at the end of this sentence. ...

• Word Count: 2187
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Research review of Parkinson's disease Afflicting over one million Americans, Parkinson's disease is one of the most devastating neuro-degenerative diseases in the world. A British physician, James Parkinson, first discovered this disease while observing people on the streets of London. He noted that certain individuals suffered from a tremor, which, along with muscle weakness, became worse with time. Even with standardized neurological examination by doctors today, Parkinson's disease is still only detectible through careful observation of the patient. It was not until ...

• Word Count: 4190
• Approx Pages: 17
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate