Bilology

ESSAY

STEM CELLS

Word count: 1116

Student: Teacher:
Darija Dizdarevic Edah Karalic
Signature:

13 November 2022
Content
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................1
2. Congenital Heart Disease.............................................................................................................1
3. How could ESCs treat CHD.........................................................................................................2
3.1. Embryonic stem cells............................................................................................................2
3.2. Stem Cell Therapy for CHD................................................................................................2
3.3. Limitations............................................................................................................................3
4. Is the use of ESCs research justified by its potential benefits to humankind?.........................4
5. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................5
6. Bibliogaphy...................................................................................................................................5
 1. Introduction

Stem cells are the foundation for every organ and tissue in our body. There are many

different types of stem cells that come from different places in the body or are formed at

different times in our lives. These include embryonic stem cells that exist only at the earliest

stages of development and various types of tissue-specific stem cells that appear during fetal

development and remain in our bodies throughout life. All stem cells can make copies of

themselves (self-renew) and develop into more specialized cells (differentiate).1

2. Congenital Heart Disease

The congenital heart disease includes abnormalities in heart. The term “congenital“ means

the condition is present from birth. 1 in every 100 children has defects in their heart due to

genetic or chromosomal abnormalities. These are heart valves defects, atrial and ventricular

septal defects, the heart muscle abnormalities, and a hole inside the wall of the heart which

causes defect in blood circulation, heart failure, and eventual death. Symptoms of congenital

heart disease are rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, extreme tiredness and fatigue, swelling

of the legs, stomach or around the eyes, and limited ability to exercise.2

1
A Closer Look at Stem Cells, Types of Stem Cells, November 05, 2018, https://www.closerlookatstemcells.org/learn-about-
stem-cells/types-of-stem-cells/ (November 09, 2022)
2
Cell biochemistry and biophysics, Congenital Heart Disease: Causes, Diagnosis, Symptoms, and Treatments,
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25638345/ (November 09, 2022)

1
 3. How could ESCs treat CHD

3.1. Embryonic stem cells

Embryonic stem cells are obtained from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, a mainly

hollow ball of cells that, in a human, forms three to five days after an egg cell is fertilized by a

sperm. In normal development, the cells inside the inner cell mass will give rise to the most

specialized cells that give rise to the entire body. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent,

meaning they can give rise to every cell type in the fully formed body, except the placenta and

umbilical cord. These cells are incredibly valuable because they provide a renewable resource

for studying normal development and disease, and for testing drugs and other therapies.3

Picture 1: How ESCs are derived 4

3
A Closer Look at Stem Cells, Type of Stem Cells, November 05, 2018 https://www.closerlookatstemcells.org/learn-about-
stem-cells/types-of-stem-cells/ (November 09, 2022)
4
Stem Cell Safari, Introduction to stem Cell Therapy, https://safarivet.typepad.com/stem_cell_safari/2016/10/introduction-to-
stem-cell-therapy.html (November 09, 2022)

2
 3.2. Stem Cell Therapy for CHD

Children with congenital heart disease go through numerous surgeries throughout their

lifetime which can be highly invasive and places a significant burden on the lives of these

children and their families by having physical, psychological and economic impacts. Even

though surgeries for CHD have significantly progressed over the years, they come with many

risks and complications including infection, bleeding, inadequate perfusion of organs and

tissues. Parents are often unable to pay the amounts needed to get these surgeries done, and

the number of surgeons who can perform them successfully is low. Although surgery remains

the gold standard treatment modality, stem cell therapy has been gaining ground as a

complimentary or alternative treatment option in certain types of CHD.

The heart is the least regenerative organ in mammals which makes it difficult to treat. In

patients that do not respond to current medical therapy, stem cell therapy is shown to be a

necessary option. Embryonic stem cells are valuable since they provide a renewable resource

for studying normal development and disease. Human embryonic stem cells have raised ideas

on alleviating disease and injury. Their pluripotency allows them to be used to regenerate or

repair diseased tissues and organs or replace specific cells lost due to a disease. This is why

embryonic stem cells could potentially treat CHD. Although there are patients with diseases

that need to be solved surgically, those options are limited for others. After several

experiments done and reports written, it has come to a conclusion that embryonic stem cell

therapy shows encouraging results in treating CHD.5

5
The effect of stem cells in congenital heart disease, Take a look at the Recent articles, https://www.oatext.com/the-effect-of-
stem-cells-in-congenital-heart-disease.php (November 10, 2022)

3
 3.3. Limitations

Despite encouraging results, considerable challenges still need to be overcome before stem

cell therapy is considered an alternative and useful adjunct to surgery for patients with CHD.

Several issues limit its clinical implication. First of all, human embryonic stem cells research

has raised some serious ethical problems due to the fact that the establishment of hESCs

required the destruction of early human embryos, which was considered crimes against

humanity. Another limitation would be that there is a potential risk of immune rejection after

transplantation. Finally, implantation of hESCs gave rise to formation of teratocarcinomas 6, a

form of malignant germ cell tumor that occurs in both animals and humans.7

4. Is the use of ESCs research justified by its potential benefits to

humankind?

The main argument for ESCs research is that it will reduce human suffering and

promote human well being, by curing or eliminating many illnesses. The use of ESCs

has been shown to be the most probable and the quickest way to attain these therapies

due to the undifferentiated nature of the stem cells as well as the ability of ESCs to

overcome immunological concerns. Any harm caused by the destruction of human

embryos will be outweighed by the goods obtained in the relief of human suffering.

However, there are still arguments supporting the claim that it is unethical to destroy

human embryos.8

6
Genes & diseases, The potential and challenges of using stem cells for cardiovascular repair and regeneration, September 1,
2014, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4307803/ (November 10, 2022)
7
Teratocarcinoma - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics, https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-
and-pharmaceutical-science/teratocarcinoma (November 110, 2022)
8
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Ethics of Stem Cell Research, December 19, 2018,
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stem-cells/ (November 11, 2022)

4
 The main argument against ESCs research is that those embryos should never be

destroyed based on the principle of respect for life. It is said that embryos have the

moral status of a person and so should not be killed regardless of the extent of human

benefit. Whether one is using “left-over” IVF embryos ready to be discarded or the fetal

tissue remains from elective abortions, any intentional destruction of an embryo cannot be

justified. 9

5. Conclusion

To sum all of this up, ESCs are pluripotent stem cells from the inner cell mass of a

blastocyst, an early stage pre-implantation embryo.10 Their pluripotency allows them to

be used to regenerate organs which could potentially treat patients with CHD. Despite

the effective results, certain limitations are present. ESCs research is highly debated

and many people have strong opinions about it. Some think that destroying embryos is

destroying an unborn child, while others feel that it isn't exactly a child yet. Due to

many advantages, encouraging results, and the fact that they save lives, the use of

ECSCs for medical research should be justified as a potential benefit to humankind.

9
The Ethics of Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Finding Common Ground | The Institute for Applied & Professional Ethics,
https://www.ohio.edu/ethics/2001-conferences/the-ethics-of-embryonic-stem-cell-research-finding-common-ground/
index.html (November 11, 2022)
10
Thomson; Itskovitz-Eldor, J; Shapiro, SS; Waknitz, MA; Swiergiel, JJ; Marshall, VS; Jones, JM (1998). "Blastocysts
Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human". Science. 282 (5391): 1145–1147.

5
 6. Bibliogaphy

WWW pages

A Closer Look at Stem Cells, November 05, 2018,

https://www.closerlookatstemcells.org/learn-about-stem-cells/types-of-stem-cells/
(November 09, 2022)

Cell biochemistry and biophysics,

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25638345/ (November 09, 2022)

Genes & diseases, September 1, 2014,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4307803/ (November 10, 2022)

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy; December 19, 2018,

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stem-cells/ (November 11, 2022)

The effect of stem cells in congential heart disease;

https://www.oatext.com/the-effect-of-stem-cells-in-congenital-heart-disease.php (November
10, 2022)

The Ethics of Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Finding Common Ground | The Institute for
Applied & Professional Ethics,

https://www.ohio.edu/ethics/2001-conferences/the-ethics-of-embryonic-stem-cell-research-
finding-common-ground/index.html (November 11, 2022)

Teratocarcinoma - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics,

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-
science/teratocarcinoma (November 10, 2022)

Pictures

Stem Cell Safari,

6
 https://safarivet.typepad.com/stem_cell_safari/2016/10/introduction-to-stem-cell-
therapy.html (November 09, 2022)

Books
Thomson; Itskovitz-Eldor, J; Shapiro, SS; Waknitz, MA; Swiergiel, JJ; Marshall, VS; Jones,
JM (1998). "Blastocysts Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Derived from
Human". Science. 282 (5391): 1145–1147.