Article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/168011.php
Summary: StemCells, Inc. announced that they had collected data about these stem cells. What this article is about is stem cells and how they could help vision long term. This varied from people with eye disorders or people who had lost sight in their aging. They said that the new neural stem cells were capable of protecting "photoreceptors (cones) in the eye from progressive degeneration and preserve visual function." With this information, they hope to move on and find a cure for AMD (Macular Degeneration), which effects millions of citizens.
Relevance? Interest?: I thought this was interesting because, well, I am learning about stem cells for my topic. I have bad eye sight and seeing statistics on people who actually have a disorder for it makes me feel lucky. I hope that in the future we find a way to use stem cells to preserve eye sight or protect is from disorders or aging. If this could be figured out, image what else we can achieve like preserving hearing. I think this is important because I will grow old one day. By then, it would be amazing if a way to preserve sight was discovered because it would assist me in my life in the future.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Article #1 and #2
The first article: http://repairstemcell.wordpress.com/2009/09/20/news-adult-stem-cell-research-creating-miracles-in-covington-st-tammany-la/
Summary: "It's about how adults can benefit from stem cells. They have successfully treated cardiac and other vascular conditions as well. Taken a step further, the researchers are designing protocols for other possible uses such as Parkinson’s disease and even diabetes. The possibilities are endless. The research involves two types of stem cells that are found in bone marrow. Bone marrow transplants have been used for years in the treatment of certain types of cancer."
Article #2: http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909(09)00453-6
Summary: CB cells are considered an alternative to bone marrow (BM) as a source of hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation. CB cells can be collected from young cells and possess the immunological immaturity of newborn cells. This article is sort of confusing, but I'm pretty sure they isolated some CB cells to obtain a purity range of 90%-94%. They were reprogrammed and cultivated in Human Foreskin Fibroblasts. They were able to repeat the process with six other individual cells. They accomplished efficient reprogramming.
Other: I was really confused with this. There was so many citations in between words of information and it made it difficult to read and understand. There was lots of terminology I didn't know like "HLA-donor-recipient" and "Trombopoietin (TPO)". I want to look for an article next time that is easier to understand. I hardly got any information from this. One thing I did find interesting though was where is talking about how, "CB cells can be collected without any risk for the donor, are young cells expected to carry minimal somatic mutations, and possess the immunological immaturity of newborn cells." I was wondering if newborns can be unharmed when these cells are taken from them. This brings up the question of why is some aspects of stem cell research controversial if it doens't harm the donor?
Summary: "It's about how adults can benefit from stem cells. They have successfully treated cardiac and other vascular conditions as well. Taken a step further, the researchers are designing protocols for other possible uses such as Parkinson’s disease and even diabetes. The possibilities are endless. The research involves two types of stem cells that are found in bone marrow. Bone marrow transplants have been used for years in the treatment of certain types of cancer."
Article #2: http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909(09)00453-6
Summary: CB cells are considered an alternative to bone marrow (BM) as a source of hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation. CB cells can be collected from young cells and possess the immunological immaturity of newborn cells. This article is sort of confusing, but I'm pretty sure they isolated some CB cells to obtain a purity range of 90%-94%. They were reprogrammed and cultivated in Human Foreskin Fibroblasts. They were able to repeat the process with six other individual cells. They accomplished efficient reprogramming.
Other: I was really confused with this. There was so many citations in between words of information and it made it difficult to read and understand. There was lots of terminology I didn't know like "HLA-donor-recipient" and "Trombopoietin (TPO)". I want to look for an article next time that is easier to understand. I hardly got any information from this. One thing I did find interesting though was where is talking about how, "CB cells can be collected without any risk for the donor, are young cells expected to carry minimal somatic mutations, and possess the immunological immaturity of newborn cells." I was wondering if newborns can be unharmed when these cells are taken from them. This brings up the question of why is some aspects of stem cell research controversial if it doens't harm the donor?
Friday, October 9, 2009
Site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v590JJV96lc&feature=related
Photosynthesis matters to me because it is how plants create energy. We are all alive because of these plants and this process. Without this process, we wouldn't have oxygen and glucose from plants which, when consumed, our body breaks down to make ATP. Plants are really this huge basis of life. Without plants, we would have no oxygen AND we wouldn't have any food. All of the food we eat comes from plants. Without the plant's ability to take energy from the sun and convert it into ATP for the plant and helps them make glucose, who knows what would happen to us. We depend on plants. I think this is the big general reason for why photosynthesis is important.
Photosynthesis matters to me because it is how plants create energy. We are all alive because of these plants and this process. Without this process, we wouldn't have oxygen and glucose from plants which, when consumed, our body breaks down to make ATP. Plants are really this huge basis of life. Without plants, we would have no oxygen AND we wouldn't have any food. All of the food we eat comes from plants. Without the plant's ability to take energy from the sun and convert it into ATP for the plant and helps them make glucose, who knows what would happen to us. We depend on plants. I think this is the big general reason for why photosynthesis is important.
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