Tissue Engineering Essay Example

the chromatids towards opposite poles.

The centromere is pulled first during mitosis, followed by chromatids uncoiling in telophase. The nuclear membrane forms around each group of chromosomes, and cytokinesis divides the cytoplasm to create two new daughter cells. In the early embryo, fertilization occurs when the sperm fuses with the egg, leading to the development and use of embryonic stem cells.

Following fertilisation, there is a swift succession of cell divisions. The initial divisions involve splitting the cell without any enlargement. Once the cell cycle has undergone three successive cycles, there will be eight similar cells. These cells are capable of expanding into a fully-developed, robust human being. Meanwhile, the blastocyst - which is a hollow bundle of cells - forms approximately five days after conception. As for the outer cell layer of the blastocyst, it proceeds to shape the placenta.

The inner blastocyst cell can develop into tissue in the early embryo and is called the pluripotent embryonic stem cell. Although these cells have the ability to become many cell types, they cannot form all 216 diverse cell types in the human body. The embryo can differentiate into specialized functions for the body as it develops. While some cells may lose their pluripotent abilities, most maintain the potential to develop into a range of cells.

The application of stem cells in medicine offers the potential to create human donor cells capable of generating new cells, tissues, or organs for transplant purposes. Embryonic stem cells offer a high probability due to their ability to differentiate into any cell type, providing great developmental flexibility. This is unlike older adult cells which can only serve a single function within the

body. Within a laboratory setting, the growth of embryos to form blastocysts is commonly accepted.

After some time, the embryo may undergo further refinement to investigate the possibility of stem cell production. The resulting stem cell is isolated from the rest of the embryo, which is ultimately discarded. Ideally, the stem cells will be nurtured and grow into transplantable tissues. However, utilizing stem cells in medicine poses challenges since the recipient's immune system may reject even properly introduced stem cells.

Transplant rejection is a well-known phenomenon with various methods available to prevent it. Among these methods, tissue typing is commonly used, which has been in practice for decades to identify a suitable blood transfusion donor. As for using multipotent stem cells copied from adults, there are no ethical concerns, a fact that is widely agreed upon.

There is concern that scientists may perceive the importance of stem cells for research and initial treatments to be less significant than pluripotent stem cells which can only be obtained from human embryos. Perspectives on the status of the human embryo vary, with some believing the use of any embryo for research is morally unethical, while others argue embryos require no moral attention. Some accept the embryo's potential as a human being and suggest respect should increase as it develops, although this respect may be weighed against potential research benefits. These views were addressed by the UK government committee set up to report on human stem cell research, as detailed in the SNAB Biology book.