Recently, so much has been written about stem cells that, it would seem, there is nothing to add, but this is far from the case. The constant discoveries of biologists working in this field provide more and more food for thought. People expect from "magic cells" getting rid of old age and diseases that were previously considered incurable.
One hears quite often about medical advances that are directly related to stem cells. Naturally, people appeared who wished to earn "a little" on this business, which led to a response.
The head of the department of chemotherapy of leukemias at the hematological center V. Savchenko called the excitement associated with stem cells a mythology in the looking glass. According to him, the extremely high level of ignorance, which is observed in our society, is to blame. The theme of "eternal life" has always existed, and here many sufferers also have extra money, and with it a great desire to return the lost beauty and health. It is quite natural that “specialists” were immediately found who were ready to provide any service for good money. V. Savchenko called stem cells a clinical mythology, which is not burdened by any scientific evidence.
What are stem cells
So, we see that opinions on the topic of stem cells are extremely polar. And what is the scientific basis for the increased interest in this scientific field?
As you know, the human body consists of trillions of different cells. Some of them are part of the nervous tissue, the second make up the muscles, the third carry oxygen throughout our body. It seems that there is nothing in common between the various cells, but this is only at first glance.
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All cells are based on the same "first cells". The specialization of the forming tissues takes place at the initial stage of embryo development. Over time, wear and tear of cellular tissue occurs. The body begins to function worse and worse, old age is approaching, a person weakens. Is it possible to replace old cells with new ones and carry out a "major overhaul" of a person? For this very purpose, some scientists are trying to use stem cells, which will play the role of "first cells".
Any cell of an organism, of which there are over 200 species, can be obtained from a stem cell. Adult stem cells are found in small numbers in the bone marrow and in the blood. They are practically not present in other organs and tissues. Stem cells are assigned the role of a "repair team". If there is a malfunction in the body, then the first cells hurry to the place of the "accident", which will have to transform into damaged tissues and restore all the lost functions of the body.
Over time, the number of stem cells decreases and the body's regenerative functions decrease. If an infant has one stem cell in 10,000 bone marrow cells, then a teenager has ten times less. In a 50-year-old man, one stem cell accounts for half a million hematopoietic cells, and in a 70-year-old - one in a million.
Amazing properties
According to research, stem cells can be grown in vitro and transplanted into tissues where their own material needs to be replaced. In the future, it became possible to grow organs.
And this is no longer a fantasy, but a fully existing reality. Scientists have long been working with stem cells that were derived from the embryo of an aborted embryo. These cells undergo a certain processing and acquire the ability to transform into any other tissue. Now they can be artificially introduced into the body.
At first glance, a panacea has already been found - healthy cells replace damaged ones, and victory over any diseases is not far off. But this, unfortunately, is far from the case. The procedure for stem cell transplantation itself has not been fully developed. It remains to be seen which of the transplanted tissues will take root and which will not. Scientists do not fully understand the consequences of transplantation.
Swindlers do not sleep
The excitement around stem cells attracted the attention of dishonest people. A great many miraculous institutions have opened all over the world, where you can "cure" and "rejuvenate". Beauty salons, in which stem cells can be used to "throw off" more than a dozen years, have gained particular popularity.
So far, the only phenomenal result of this kind of procedures has been the rapid transfer of funds from the client's pocket to the “esculap's” pocket. It's one thing when quack treatment simply does not bring any benefit, so it is still capable of causing irreparable harm!
Despite the precautions, the use of cells from embryonic tissue is not safe! There is a possibility of contamination by microbes and viruses. During engraftment, stem cells are often perceived by the immune system as foreign bodies, which can cause severe autoimmune disease.
What if you use your own stem cells? This technology looks more promising. In the laboratory, tens of millions of analogues can be grown from one cell. But such technologies are still extremely poorly developed, and those that already exist are prohibitively expensive.
There is one more obstacle. Cells obtained from an adult organism can only turn into cells of the tissue from which they were isolated. Currently, many laboratory studies are being carried out to change the purpose of stem cells, but there is no need to talk about the use of such techniques in medicine.
Is Hemabank awaiting us in the future?
Of particular importance are stem cells that can be used to fight leukemia, but they are the ones that cannot be multiplied in the laboratory. How to get stem cells from the patient himself?
In the eighties of the last century, there was a proposal to use the blood of the umbilical cord of a newborn. The cells of this blood have great potential for reproduction. After the birth of a child, they can be saved, and at the right time they can be multiplied and used for the treatment of both the child and all members of his family.
Since 1992, such scientific activity has become widespread in the United States. It is now possible to save the blood of the umbilical cord with us. This problem is dealt with by Gemabank, which was created on the basis of the Russian Cancer Center. But keeping blood is not cheap. However, progress also does not stand still, and in the future the procedure may become available to most citizens.
At the end of the last century, stem cells were discovered in the brain, and this was a colossal breakthrough in medicine! These cells have the ability to repair damage to brain tissue, they can become neurons.
In the brain, stem cells are contained only in two places - in the hippocampus and ventricles. When any part of the brain is damaged, stem cells migrate to the problem area, where they turn into neurons and eradicate the damage. The possibility of combating a number of dangerous brain diseases has opened up before mankind, but so far these scientific experiments are carried out only in laboratories.