Stem Cells In Medicine (Edexcel GCSE Biology: Combined Science)

Using Adult Stem Cells in Medicine

• Adult stem cells can be cultured in the lab and made to differentiate into specialised cells (predominantly cells of the blood) but into fewer cell types than is possible with embryonic stem cells
• Stem cells are already used to treat some diseases (e.g. leukaemia) but there is huge potential for stem cells to be used to cure many more diseases in the future (e.g. diabetes and paralysis)

Using Embryonic Stem Cells in Medicine

• Modern scientific techniques mean that is possible to grow human embryos in the lab and to extract embryonic stem cells from them
• These embryonic stem cells can then be stimulated to differentiate into most types of specialised cell
  • As a result, they are potentially very effective in treatment of certain diseases or to repair damaged organs by growing new tissue from stem cells

Stem Cell Treatment Table

Evaluating the use of stem cells in medicine

• There are many benefits and risks associated with using stem cells in medicine, as well as considerable ethical and social concerns

Evaluating Stem Cells in Medicine Table