Stem Cell Science: An introduction to stem cells for high-school students

Introduction

Interest in STEM cell subjects has been showing a global decline among young individuals. Based on
the Malaysia Education Ministry’s 2020 Annual Report, only 47% of post-secondary students are
enrolled in STEM with 20.5% within the pure sciences. There is an urgent need to increase
participation in STEM subjects and to engage students meaningfully, so that they can see a future for
them in science, particularly in the field of pure science and biology. It is estimated that Malaysia
needs to increase student participation in STEM subjects by 60%, to ensure that there is a sufficient
talent to meet demands.

The interest in science needs to be inculcated early in education before students decide to pursue
their subject and career of choice. Student internship programmes have been proposed as a medium
for invoking student’s interest in the subject. It is proposed that active involvement of students in
laboratory experimentation and scientific discovery would increase their motivation towards making
scientific research as their primary career choice.

Providing students with opportunities to experience ‘authentic science practice’ may be achieved
through simple visits to spending time with scientists participating in the ongoing research for an
extended period. Studies have indicated that participating in real everyday activity such as scientific
research can alter the psychology of learning among students. The exposure outside the traditional
classroom setting and the mentorship provided during the laboratory practical session may provide
‘the material that schools do not teach’.

An area an intensive interest and development in the biological sciences is ‘stem cells’. Stem cells
are special types of early progenitor cells that can differentiate themselves to mature cells like
blood, muscle, nerve, and heart cells. Stem cells also have the unique property of self-renewal of
making exact copies of themselves. These two properties of self-renewal and differentiation makes
them an infinite supply source of cells of different kinds. Research in this area has led to the deeper
understanding of how cells develop and work, as well as to produce cells for repair and regeneration
of tissues and organs that have been damaged.

Therefore, we intend to invoke interest in this important area of study among senior high-school
students, through an online programme followed by hands-on exposure in a research facility for
selected students.

Programme objectives

1. Increase the proportion of high-school students who choose biology-related fields as their first
choice for entry into university.
2. Increase motivation of students towards research in cell biology and stem cell science once they
have entered university.

Student selection and programme delivery

The internship programme will be divided into two parts. The first part shall consist of students
taking an online training course at their own pace over a period of 6 weeks. This will consist of a
series of 5 short modules that will aim to cover basic aspects of stem cell biology and their
applications. Students will be assessed through multiple choice assessment questions at the end of
each module before they proceed to the next module. The total participation time per student for
the entire online programme will be about 10 hours and will be opened to all interested students
within the school.

Based on the performance during the online course, students will be shortlisted and invited to write
a reflective essay on their experience of the online course, and an expression of interest in joining a
hands-on internship in the UTAR Stem Cell Research facility. Assessment of the students’ essays will
be made by an internal selection committee together with advice from the respective
schoolteachers in charge.

On conclusion of this exercise, 6-8 students will be selected to continue to practical laboratory
teaching that will be conducted in the UTAR Stem Cell Research laboratory over a period of 2 weeks.
During the practical sessions, students will be tagged to academic staff and research postgraduate
students who will train and mentor them in basic cell and molecular biology techniques.

At the end of the programme, students will be assessed on their motivation and attitude towards
STEM using the Science Motivation Questionnaire II (SMQ) and the Student Attitude towards STEM
(S-STEM) tools.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the online course, students should be able to:

1. Define the characteristics of stem cells.

2. Explain the sources and methods of generation of different types of stem cells.
3. Identify the role of stem cells in the regeneration of various cell types.
4. Identify how stem cells can be used for research and medical applications.
5. Explain ethical issues that may be associated with stem cell research.

On completion of the practical course, students should be able to:

1. Explain the basis of experiments using stem cells, by applying the knowledge that they have
derived from their online course.
2. Observe and recognise the growth of cells in-vitro within the laboratory.
3. Perform basic laboratory techniques in the stem cell laboratory.

Mode of delivery and assessments

1. Online course comprising tutorial videos, lecture notes and objective assessment questions.
2. Practical course comprising observations and performance of laboratory experiments.
3. Assignments and reflective essays
Online course programme

Week-1: Introduction to stem cells

• Historical perspective of stem cell research – important events and people involved in stem cell
research.
• Definition of stem cell
• Characteristics of stem cells
• Conceptual understanding of self-renewal and differentiation
• Types of stem cells – in-vivo and in-vitro

Week-2: Development, pluripotency, and reprogramming

• Early development: fertilisation, totipotency and pluripotency

• Commitment and differentiation in the early embryo
• Mechanisms of cell fate determination

Week-3: Generating and growing stem cells in the laboratory

• Collection and establishment of stem cells in the laboratory – embryonic stem cells (ESC),
lineage committed stem cells e.g., haematopoietic stem cells (HSC)
• Characterisation of stem cells
• Alternative to embryonic stem cells – induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)

Week-4: Applications of stem cells

• Fundamental research into cell biology and diseases

• Regeneration of cells for tissue or organ replacement - skin, joint and bone transplant
• Collection and production of cells for treatment – blood transfusion, haematopoietic stem cell
transplant

Week-5: Ethical issues in stem cell research and therapy

• Ethics of working with embryonal cells and ESC

• Cell lines, consents, and ownerships
• Ethics of gene editing
• Cost and accessibility to stem cell products
• Responsible communication of stem cell science to the public

Week-6: Reflections and revisions

• Synthesis, review, and reflection of previous 5 week

Learning outcome for each of the weekly modules will be defined as the content is in development.
The topics and practical classes during the practical training will likewise be defined at a later stage
of the programme development.
Proposed timeline

Year 2023 2024

Month M A M J J A S O N D J F
1 Develop online course content
2 Produce course material
3 Optimise for online hosting
4 Go-live with online content* (31/8/23)
5 Develop practical programme
6 Purchase and acquire materials for practical prog.
7 Student registration for programme
8 First cohort of online students* (1/11/23)
9 Selection process for practical programme
10 Pair students with mentors
11 Practical programme
12 Feedback and programme outcome analysis
* Milestones (will be adjusted according to students’ calendar)

Resource persons

Professor Alan Ong Han Kiat, PhD

Professor Veera Sekaran Nadarajan, MBBS, MPath, DRCPath

Academic staff, Centre of Stem Cell Research, UTAR

Postgraduate students, Centre of Stem Cell Research, UTAR
Medical students, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UTAR