Every 10 minutes a new name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list and an average of 18 people a day die from the lack of available organs for transplant, so how do we fix this problem? We obviously can’t take organs from the living and there are only a certain number of people who actually take the path to donate their organs (because organs can’t be taken from any dead person). So we have to find an alternate route and at this point doctors are looking into stem cells to help solve this problem.
Stem cells are unspecialized cells in the human body that have the capability to renew themselves through cell division at any time and can also be used to create tissues or organs in an ideal environment. They are important in the human body because they help repair damage that has occurred in regions of the body including the stomach and bone marrow and they can also become another type of cell with a more
A study that was published in the Lancet, the world’s leading general medical journal, recently reported a case where scientists were able to take a vein from a cadaver and put it into a 10 year old girl to fix a blockage in a major blood vessel between her liver and intestines. The scientists then decellularized the vein so that all that was left was the vein extracellular matrix and then proceeded to repopulate the vein with her own stem cells from her bone marrow. They placed this vein into the girl and the doctors found that the girls blood flow rates had improved drastically.specialized function such as a red blood cell, brain cell, or muscle cell.
Scientists have been trying to fully understand how the unspecialized cells become specialized. They need to know everything about the differentiation mechanism before they are able to prepare organs that are suitable for transplant and they are not at that point yet. The idea is to be able to grow organs with the use of stem cells so that transplants are not dependent on donations. At this point purely stem cell created transplants are not being used on every day patients and are typically put into far off cancer patients who are willing to take the risk because the chance of the transplant being rejected by the patients body is so high. Some believe that in the near future, say 20 years, stem cell transplants are going to be very common surgeries.
Technology for the body 
erictritran
Whoa! That is pretty cool. I always have heard of stem cells research and such, and now I feel as though I understand the potential within stem cells and what they’re capable of!
Cory
Stem cells seem like something that could come in handy for medical treatments in general. I am surprised as to why a lot of scientists oppose the use of stem cells since they seem so beneficial.
benlin1994
Stem cells look very promising! I don’t understand why some people are against using them.