Stem cells

Embryonic stem cells These are single cells They can turn in to anything, so (theoretically) can be used to treat any type of problem They come from 3 sources: Leftover foetuses from IVF Aborted foetuses Cloned foetuses (not happened yet)

Adult stem cells Come from adults They are ‘specialised’ cells (e.g. a skin cell can only be used in skin) They come from living adults and do not cause any harm to the adult

Problems with embryonic cells Embryonic cells can turn in to anything, including diseases or tumours Removing cells destroys the embryo – some people may see this as the destruction of human life Some people regard embryonic cell removal as discrimination of the very young Some people believe embryos need protecting as they rely on another human (mother) for survival

Adult stem cells are more stable than embryonic ones, so are considered to be more useful

Current situation There are no diseases being treated with embryonic cells because: they are too expensive they are too unstable There are 73 diseases being treated with adult stem cells

The future? A future alternative is Induced Pluripotent Cells (IPCs) IPCs are skin cells which have been ‘deprogrammed’ to become embryo-like They do not involve the use of embryonic tissue/cells