stem cells

stm cellls offer great hope to medicine, they may one day produce universal human donor cells which would provide new cells, tissues or organs.

however there are some issues associated with this research. e.g. even if scientists manage to get the stem cells to develop into the right sort of tissue , the tissue may end up being rejected by the immune system of the person having a transplant.

one answer to this issue is therapeutic cloning where by the pateint having a transplant would have one of their diploid cells removed which would then be fused with an ovum from which the haploid nucleus had been removed.

the result would be a dilpoid cellrather like a zygote. this process is known as somatic cell nuclear transfer.

the cell would then be stimulated to divide by mitosis, and if all went to plan a blastocyst would develop  and stem cells could be taken from this and encouraged to develop into tissues.

there are a number of ethical issues surrounding the use of stem cells.

for exampl one issue is thst the use of stem cells is unethical and unacceptable on the grounds that the embryo should be given full human status from the moment of its creation.

however others argue that the embryo requires and deserves no particular moral attention whatsoever.

there are times when new advances riase various ethical or other concerns whereby regulatory authorities must get involved.