Guided Bone Regeneration

What are Stem Cells? What are they? Why are they important?

What are Stem Cells?
Stem cells are unspecialized, or unprogrammed cells. They can be used to regenerate muscle, cartilage, bone and other specialized cells.
Stem cells
In the field of science called regenerative medicine there are four types of stem cells used for treatment, research and development:
aec Fetal stem cells
aec Embryonic stem cells
aec Adult stem cells
aec Cord blood stem cells

Fetal stem cells:
Fetal stem cells are extracted from the developing tissues and organs of the fetus end. A fetus contains a relatively large supply of stem cells that are necessary for growth and maturation.

There are some problems with using fetal stem cells for treatment:
1. There is a moral and ethical debate concerning the use of fetal tissue for treatment and research.
2. There is a risk of tissue rejection (such as the rejection in a heart, liver or blood transplant).

Embryonic stem cells:
Embryonic stem cells are extracted from a human egg has been fertilized by a sperm. These stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they can develop into any cell type in the body without restrictions or limitations. Embryonic stem cells can easily be matured in every functional adult cells and have the potential to treat diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer, etc..

Two major issues surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells for treatment:
1. The ethical and moral debate regarding the use of a fertilized ovum for research and treatment.
2. The potential for tissue rejection (such as the rejection in a heart, liver or blood transplant).


Adult stem cells:
Adult stem cells are the supply of reserves of cells taken from adult tissues and organs. Their function is to repair damaged cells. Adult stem cells are semi-programmed, for example, a skin stem cell can develop into a heart muscle cell. They can develop into cells of the skin.

Cord blood stem cells:
Cord blood stem cells are extracted from the umbilical cord. They can turn into different types of blood cells. Cord blood stem cells can be used to treat a number of blood diseases and cancers.

Using stem cells from the patient himself the risk of rejection is reduced and the process is less invasive compared to the extraction of bone marrow. The healing properties of cord blood stem cells have not yet been achieved.

Recent advances in research on stem cells
Recently, there have been findings that suggest that cord blood stem cells and other adult stem cells, under the right circumstances, may be subject to turn into cells of organs. On February 11, 2008, in an online edition at the beginning of the research journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from UCLA published their progress in genetic modification of human skin cells to create cells that are almost identical to embryonic stem cells.
Cord blood stem cells have been used to treat a variety of different diseases. A list of common treatments are available at www. Mazecordblood.com / cordblood-transplant.htm. In addition, a number of researchers working on a variety of treatments exciting cord blood. These include treatments for diabetes and cerebral palsy.

In Barcelona, June 2008, doctors implanted a newly built trachea of a patient 30 years. The trachea was partially built with tissue grown from adult stem cells from the patient. This is one of the first transplants in which doctors created a functional biological structure.