Stem cells : Organ transplantation

 Stem cells are indistinguishable cells that can transform into any type of cells.  According to scientists, these cells can be used to repair any part of the body or any cell.  Stem cells have the ability to acquire specificity as developed cells.  This is called cell therapy. 

Biotechnology along with cloning has given a new dimension to cell medicine.  Cell therapy involves the study of cells that have the ability to form new tissues by division, growth and differentiation.  The idea and use of this therapy first started with the blood-forming tissues.  These cells obtained from the bone marrow produce lifelong blood.  Transplantation of the whole blood system can be done by transplanting them in diseases like cancer.  For more than 30 years, bone marrow and currently cord blood stem cells have been used to treat conditions such as leukemia and lymphoma in patients suffering from cancer.  During chemotherapy, most of the growing cells are destroyed using cytotoxins.  These reactants do not differentiate between leukemia cells and hematopotic stem cells located in the bone marrow.  For this reason, an attempt is made to remove these side effects arising from the traditional chemotherapy treatment method by stem cell transplantation. 

The use of stem cells has been encouraged since the discovery in 1960 of Canadian scientists Ernest A. MeCulloch and James E. Till.  Stem cells are divided into three groups based on the source for scientific experiment 

(i) embryonic stem cells 

(ii) adult stem cells 

(ii) umbilical cord blood stem cells 

(i) Embryonic stem cells - 

diploid zygotic cells have the ability to form a complete organism during embryonic development.  Ovarian cells divide and form blastoeysts.  The blastocysts' inner cells divide and differentiate to form specialized cells that have the ability to regenerate each tissue.  These are called multifunctional cells.  These cells are preserved in every tissue and are useful in cell reproduction and re-structure in tissues.  Cells isolated from the blastocyst can be induced for any type of tissue differentiation.  These cells are called embryonic stem cells, being derived from embryos.  Damaged organs can also be repaired with these cells.  They have special importance in the diagnosis of heart disease, diabetes and nervous system diseases.  

(ii) Adult stem cells - 

There are three main sources of adult stem cells (a) bone marrow which is usually obtained from femur bone.  (b) adipose tissue lipid cells and (c) blood stem cells.  

(iii) Umbilical cord blood stem cells - 

Immediately after birth, stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood have been implanted in the treatment of spinal cord injury.  

Treatment of diseases 

A variety of stem cell therapy methods exist for the treatment of diseases, but most are still in the experimental stages and expensive, except for the notable exception of bone marrow transplantation.  Stem cells are used to diagnose various diseases under stem cell treatment.  In India too, with its help, it has been successful in the treatment of cornea transplant and heart muscle damaged in heart attack.  Stem cells used in the treatment of most diseases are autologous harvesting of the patient, which does not cause medical inconvenience.  

Brain damage, spinal cord injury, restore vision, diabetes, parkinsons disease, arthritis, neuromuscular disease, alzheimer disease, thalcimia,  Aplastic anemia (deficiency of red blood cells), blood cancer, etc. can be treated by stem cells developed and cloned in the laboratory.  Stem cells will also make it possible to manufacture teeth in the laboratory, experimentally it has been tested successfully on mice.  

The success of stem cell transplantation depends highly on the development of the following procedures 

(i) Transplanted cells must be regenerated.  

(ii) Transplanted cells should diploid in the region specific. 

(iii) It is mandatory for the transplanted cells to survive in the recipient ie avoidance of transplant rejection.  

(iv) Transplanted cells must be integrated within the target tissue.  

(v) Transplantation of transplanted cells into the patient's circulation is necessary.