However, there would also need to be an extended period of longitudinal analysis of the effects of the therapy on the experimental group mice's health to see if the improvement continued and did not produce damaging side effects.
The MSCs in the liver therapy are not derived from human embryos and thus the objections to discarding human embryos are not a factor in the ethical discussion about the therapy. In fact, "the number of MSCs that can be obtained from a donor is significantly lower than the number needed for tissue regeneration. Therefore, MSCs are expanded ex-vivo in media supplemented with growth factors" and created in a lab ("MSC growth factors," R&D Systems, 2013). The main ethical objections to the use of MCSs revolve around the question of scientists' right to create new organs and the possible risks involved. The Japanese research team "relied on a 'cocktail' of so-called induced stem cells grown to resemble the nascent liver bud cells used in the experiment" (Vergano 2013). The mice in the experiment must be closely monitored to see if they develop liver tumors, one of the possible negative side effects of the therapy. "Concerns linger about cancer risks from stem cells implanted into patients. The liver buds also lacked immune cells that filter toxins from the bloodstream and structural cells that send digestive enzymes into the gut from a real liver" (Vergano 2013). Other objections which might arise are the fact that liver transplants are effective, proven therapies while this therapy is not.
If successful, the therapy could free many people waiting for a liver donor of a long and painful wait...
How long this process takes and whether it will prevent the loss of seeded cells probably depends to a significant extent on the surrounding tissue and therefore represents another unknown. HIF-1? And VEGF are also involved in osteogenesis, so the influence of these growth factors on the differentiation choices being made by the seeded stem cells is unknown (Polzer 7). The impact of prolonged hypoxic conditions on the seeded cells
Stem Cell Ethics Debating the Ethics of Stem Cells The term 'stem cells' can mean different things to different people. For some, it conjures images of medical miracles providing solutions for heart disease, diabetes, and dementia. For others, it terrifies with a future filled with cloned humans. Still others cringe at the thought of mass producing cultured human embryos for the sole purpose of providing organs and tissues for a paying public.
In the words of Obama, "Today, with the executive order I am about to sign, we will bring the change that so many scientists and researchers, doctors and innovators, patients and loved ones have hoped for, and fought for, these past eight years: We will lift the ban on federal funding for promising embryonic stem cell research," President Obama further said. "We will vigorously support scientists who pursue this
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