Sunday, February 16, 2014

Give an example of one pro and one con for the use of stem cells in medicine

As the question implies, there are pros and cons to using stem cells in medicine. As scientists gain more knowledge about stem cells, some of those cons may no longer be an issue.
Pro:
Using stem cells reduces the risk of patient rejection of new cells, tissues, and organs. Stem cells would come from the patient, and that means the patient's body wouldn't fight off and reject the stem cell treatment.
Stem cell therapies have shown great potential in helping/curing diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and cancer.
Con:
Long-term side effects are simply not known yet. There's a lot of potential risk because doctors just don't have a lot of historical data yet.
Adult stem cells aren't as dynamic as once thought. Adult stem cells of a particular origin only make cells of that same type. For example, muscle cells would only generate muscle cells. This might be exactly what is necessary, but perhaps not always useful. There are limitations to the versatility of adult stem cells.
There are ethical issues and concerns over stem cell use.
https://www.healthguidance.org/entry/12366/1/Pros-and-Cons-of-Stem-Cell-Therapy.html

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