Read the recent article about a new technique for obtaining stem cells. Very exciting stuff. Maybe a litte stress can be usefull from time to time. Read and comment on the article.
http://www.nature.com/news/acid-bath-offers-easy-path-to-stem-cells-1.14600
This is the last blog post before February Break!
Mr. C.
From the 1% conversion rate of iPS cells, to a faster and more efficient way to create a more "malleable cell," this discovery of the "stress" method provides hope of a more promising future for those diagnosed with many degenerative diseases. Recently a family friend was diagnosed with ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, a highly degenerative disease that attacks motor neurons. In researching this disease and its treatments, I couldn't find much but a method developed by Neuralstem INC., Neural Stem Therapy. (http://www.neuralstem.com/cell-therapy-for-als) The method makes use of fetal spinal cord stem cells by injecting them into the gray matter of the patients spinal cord. At this point, the treatment is still being tested, only in its first trials, and is still inconclusive. However, with discoveries such as this production of STAP cells through external stress, treatments such as Neural Stem Therapy when perfected will have a more readily available resource of cells that have a wider range of capabilities and applications than ever before.
ReplyDeleteI think this new technique shows promise to greatly change how we treat injuries and diseases. It could allow different organs to be grown from a person's own cells, replacing any part of them that was injured or suffering from a degenerative disease as Matt talked about. This can give hope to countless people who suffer from life threatening injuries or conditions. It will also help in other fields of research where stem cells are required, because they can now be harvested without any of the more controversial methods that are traditionally used.
ReplyDeleteThis new technique could be a leap forward in treating diseases and injuries. Creating these STAP cells would be easier and more efficient. This could open many doors and have amazing implications if these STAP cells can be used. Not to mention that this can further stem cell research without controversial methods of collecting the stem cells. All in all, this is a fantastic leap forward in medicine and I'm looking forward to seeing where this leads.
ReplyDeleteThis new regeneration technique holds huge potential for the future of the medical field, offering a possible solution to all types of injuries and diseases. Although still being primitive in its development,the new theory of adding stress to cells to make them pluripotent is actually quite ingenious. In human bodies cells replicate and respond to distress such as cuts and scrapes. When somebody gets a cut, white blood cells rush to clot the cut as new skin cells replicate. By adding stress to cells, they are able to adapt into all cell types,making the pluripotent. This new method offers the chance for scientists to use these STAP cells in place of the regular STEM harvesting method, and in the future this could really change how humans approach degenerative diseases and injuries.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find most interesting about this article is all the scrutiny and disbelief Obokata endured during the testing of the stem cells. It seemed that throughout all the testing she did, she still did not have the support of her fellow scientists when this was obviously such an important and groundbreaking discovery. I also enjoyed Obokata's explanation for how these pluripotent stem cells are really created. Although researchers at Harvard and the University of Minnesota have tried drastic methods of producing iPS cells and have had inconsistent results, the simplest solution was the one that aligned most logically with nature. Obokata described it as "the generation of these cells is essentially Mother Nature's way of responding to injury," and it makes complete sense. Stem cells undoubtedly open a whole new world of biological advancement for humanity but need to start becoming universally accepted so scientists can start serious research in the field and start making groundbreaking medical advancements.
ReplyDeleteSections of this article have shown relation to the our current unit of evolution and natural selection. As Tim pointed out, Obokata described the generation of these stem cells through a physical stress such as "squeezing" as "Nature's way of responding to injury." Very fascinating. It is also interesting to see a modern day example of a scientist, such as Obokata, building upon previous discoveries by Catherine Verfaillie of pluripotent cells in a mammalian body, similar too Darwin building upon and improving the ideas of past scientists' descriptions of evolution. Through her efforts, Obokata has made yet another discovery in the modern study of stem cells, and it will be interesting to see if she improves upon her own ideas in the future, or if another scientist will use her discoveries to generate their own new discoveries that even further modernize stem cell research.
ReplyDeleteThis technique holds huge potential for the future of the medical field. The pluripotent cells could be used to treat all kinds of currently devastating injuries or degenerative diseases. Like Anish said, this technique could allow organs to be produced from a person's own cells. This could save many lives; people who need organs as a result of injury or disease are often placed on long waiting lists for donations, and often they can't afford to wait that long. The progress made with the discovery of this technique means lifesaving developments and advances.
ReplyDeleteWithin the medical field, being able to create these STAP cells offers a huge possibility for treating many diseases. It is amazing to think that something that is always regarded as very bad, stress, can have positive effects. This makes me wonder what else things that are thought as negative could do if scientists tried some different things. Aside from this, the possibilities that come with being able to create stem cells are endless. The things that people discover in the medical field amazes me. This could completely revolutionize the field of medicine, and improve life for so many people. So many diseases could be treated with stem cells, and Obokata could have just found a way to make it happen.
ReplyDeleteInitially, I confused this finding with that of the scientists at Stanford who discovered a method for rejuvenating muscle tissue in aging mice by activating its creation of stem cells (link below for those who are interested). But I would say this is much larger in scale as this process of stressing mature cells to become pluripotent has a conversion rate of 7.5 percent! Interestingly, pluripotent cells differ from and seem to be preferable to stem cells not only because of they can be produced at a nearly seven-fold increase but also because they can form placental tissue. It's confusing that iPS is an acronym for 'induced pluripotent stem cell' and STAP is an acronym for 'stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency' - so what's the difference? Is a stem cell not initially pluripotent, or is that just redundant? Also, as only about 30 percent of cells survive the acid-stress treatment, I wonder how evolution plays/will play into this technique.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/6065/20140217/muscle-stem-cells-rejuvenated-elderly-mice.htm
This is an incredible finding, yet I feel as though it is very logical. When animals or humans are stressed, our adrenaline kicks in and we are able to accomplish astonishing tasks, such as running very quickly or utilizing extreme strength. It only makes sense that this would be similar in less complex organisms; the introduction of stress causes the normal process to work at a faster rate. It is for reasons such as these that I find it ridiculous that many do not want the government to be funding these programs. If we have the possibility to save so many lives, I believe that we should do all in our power to do so. I found an article which outlines the controversy over the funding, and I find the counterarguments to be weak: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/08/government-allowed-to-fund-embryonic-stem-cell-research-court-rules-79173.html.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, I believe that this research is very worth it, and that Obokata has done some very fine work.
The discovery of these STAP cells is probably going to lead to so many advancements in the medical field. If it's significantly easier and quicker to get STAP cells than iPS cells, then there's a good chance that STAP cells will be able to help many patients who need treatments that are only possible with stem cells, like severe wounds or many types of degenerative diseases. It seems like this is the first step in a whole new field of medicine. If these STAP cells are as useful as Obokata believes, then it could be one of the biggest changes to modern medicine.
ReplyDeleteReading through the article, I couldn't help but think through 20-20 hindsight that the conversion of these cells in reaction to injury makes sense. Of course, I know I wouldn't have ever been able to note or produce these STAP cells, so props to Obokata. I believe that there are pros and cons to this discovery, and some hefty pros and cons at that. These cells have great potential to help people - with organ transplant and even organ "farming." Stem cells have amazing potential as Mother Nature has proved through these recent studies, and previous studies that have harvested embryos. I have hopes that these STAP cells may eliminate embryonic stem cells and help to support umbilical cord and adult stem-cell research. But the part of the article that addresses cloning disturbs me. Human life is extremely precious - that's why the medical fields are fighting so hard to maintain it. But anything that can allow the medical fields to become a business is terrifying - someone will try, and it is possible that someone will succeed. Perhaps it is the fact that I just read "Brave New World" where the populations are man-made. However, as much as I have faith that these STAP cells can do some serious good, I also have faith that people can, and may try and succeed, to do some serious harm by abusing the research.
ReplyDeleteSo I must admit that I was, and still am now, at least a little skeptical about how simple Obokata’s methods for creating pluripotent cells came across when I first read the summary from Nature, and I guess I’m not alone because just about half of the articles that I researched afterwards, to see how the study was being received three weeks later, looked something like this: http://www.boston.com/news/science/blogs/science-in-mind/2014/02/18/controversial-stem-cell-study-being-investigated-scrutinized/3vERiEtyJ66JCoz4jdS0fM/blog.html. That being said, I can’t help but respect how naturally-sound the RIKEN scientists’ logic is, and the incredible implications of what their work could amount to in human medicine. After all, it’s likely that EVERY great scientific breakthrough there ever was met controversy to some extent in its first months out in the open. Yes, no other scientists (and all who have tried have been very qualified) have yet been able to emulate Obokata’s results as they were documented in her report – nor were Obokata’s methods even explicitly explained in regards to how, exactly, they caused pluripotency! But for the sake of a future where treating diseases that were once incurable could finally be so simple, I truly hope that these findings make it to the other side and become accepted in the scientific world.
ReplyDeleteIts really fascinating that such induced stress would cause cells to change in such a way. However it is a natural phenomenon that our body's cells use every day to respond to the stresses that we put it through. This versatility of cells is truly a remarkable feat of nature and the discovery of such a cell culturing tactic will doubtlessly have great effect on the medical field. Yet even though this discovery appears to be valid at the moment who knows whether these artificially stress induced cells will behave normally as they continue to grow. There are just too many variables for this discovery to be counted as such a huge success. More tests should be made.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that I found most interesting about this article is the chance that Obokata was able to see the changes that stress has on a cell and how the cell can undergo changes in a positive matter. This experiment has a lot of potential with everything that it can do for injuries and diseases however this new theory needs a lot more evidence and trials to try to pick out which physical stressers work the best with which cells and what different levels can the cell take of stress that enhances its task rather than denature it. That line between good stress and bad stress needs to be defined and looked at deeper before this method is used to help many who need it.
ReplyDeleteThis newly discovered way to create pluripotent cells by using several stressful conditions is very interesting, and as Obokata found, unbelievable. Her solution to finding a way to produce these cells efficiently could be useful in the future to help individuals. As Harrison mentioned, more tests will be needed in order to ensure the safety of these cells being used long term, as one does not know yet how these cells will continue to grow. Because the method of creating these cells is so out there, the future of this research is questionable.
ReplyDeleteThis new discovery, in my opinion, is going to play a huge roll in medical science of the future. Now having the ability to make cell that behave like stem cells with out the cost of a fetus is going to completely change the game. New STAP cells not only are more effective and in some cases have the potential to even develop placental tissue, something nether IPS cells or stem cells can do but this also frees up any religious issues with that area of science. With out the cost of an embryo scientists wont be having to worry about offending certain religious groups. Of course the testing behind this still has a ways to go this could honestly be the break through of a century. Who knows the limits of this science's applications.
ReplyDeleteThis actually makes sense. An organism under stress needs to adapt in order to survive, which is accomplished by stem cells. With continuous stress, the current configuration is clearly not working, so cells need to start from scratch in order to do so. While they remain unable to change their genetic code, these revelations could potentially lead to studies into how an individual organism changes its body chemistry in response to its environment.
ReplyDeleteI think that the work that Obokata has done is quite extraordinary, seeing that she started doing all of this work based off of one little observation. I generally think that stem cell research is an incredible field with a lot of potential, and I think Obokata's work can lead to more beneficial discoveries in the future. I'm sure this will be helpful in the medical field, seeing that stem cell research is helping to treat people who need help with failing organs. Hopefully, one day organs will be able to be lab-created, which would help with a lot of medical issues that we face today.
ReplyDeleteAs noted in several comments on the original article page, this type of cell conversion due to stress can actually be observed in the normal development and functioning of animals. The two most frequently cited examples were the neuroderm differentiation in the ectoderm layer in early development, which is normally induced by the mesoderm but can also be caused by other "'non-specific' stimuli, such as pH, temperature, lithium, various chemical dies, nucleic acids, etc," (Sui Huang, comments), and in the creation of "cancer stem cells" (CSC) in the human body during chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Of course, it makes sense that the process discovered by Obokata occurs elsewhere as a natural process, but it is surprising that it was right under our noses and had not been considered before.
ReplyDeleteI am really impressed with Obokata's work and I am curious to see what will happen with these stem cells in the future. If these cells can be used with humans, then there are many amazing possibilities, especially for medical advances. For example, since Obokata's STAP method for producing stem cells is much faster than any other methods currently in use, stem cell based therapies for diseases could be sped up dramatically.
ReplyDeleteObokata's work with creating stem cells is ground-breaking. What is interesting about his discovery is that it truly shows how the body can change and adapt under stressful and crisis situations. By converting highly specialized cells to stem cells and then allowing the new stem cells to convert back, displays the body's versatility. Obokata's discovery could potentially target cancer cells to convert them back to stem cells and make them regrow to have a normal function in the body. Time and more research will tell.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very cool and interesting. I'm curious to see how the research that Obokata completed will help people in the future, and what else scientists will ascertain becasue of the discovery. One use could be for people in need of organs who would normally have to wait on a list for a donor, scientists could clone the patient's existing organ minus the flaws that were leading to failure in the first place. There is so much potential with stem cell research for new medical treatments for people with all kinds of diseases and physical problems and I can't wait to see how other scientists utilize Obokata's discovery.
ReplyDeleteThis discovery has the potential to be a huge advancement in the medical field. Treatments to diseases and injuries could become drastically easier; thereby saving many lives. Like Anish added, these cells could allow the regeneration of organs from a patient's own cells. With the amount of people on organ donor lists, it is common that people do not get the organs they need in time. This discovery could lead to so many new routes of treatments and medical techniques and has the potential to be a very reliable solution to a variety of currently serious problems.
ReplyDeleteThis discovery can be very important to the scientific world, specifically the field of medicine. Recovery from devastating injury will become a lot easier with this new discovery. Instead of people needing to wait for an organ, which can take a very long time, their own organ can be regenerated to save a lot of time, and to possibly save their life. There are so many more applications for this type of scientific advancement.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. This technology has the potential to regenerate tissue very quickly from the patient's own cells, which would ensure that their body wouldn't reject it. It also avoids the ethical morass that is the debate over stem cell use.
ReplyDeleteI think the coolest part is that I know someone who is working on this - Lauren St. Hilaire, a former student, is doing research on iPS cells at MIT. She mentioned this a few months ago, so it's exciting that this is being researched at multiple locations around the world. Hopefully we can develop it to a point where it's useful and affordable.
I think this discovery could be important and could help tremendously in the world today. I think it's interesting that the cells are created when the body goes through physical stress. Just like they said in the article, it reminds me of how the body responds when it's trying to heal an injury. It's almost unbelievable that the pluripotent cells should be able to turn into every cell type. If these cells are able to work with humans, it could lead to many advances in the medical field.
ReplyDeleteI think that the discovery that these scientists made is extremely important for the use of stem cells in the future. By finding more effective ways to use stem cells, in the years to come, doctors may be able to use these cells to benefit their patients. It makes sense that the stress would cause an increased reaction with the cells in some situations though. Even with humans, stress can sometimes cause a better work ethic. Overall, this article proves that medical discoveries are still being made all the time and that, in the future, stem cells may become more easily accessible for those that need it.
ReplyDeleteObokata has recently developed a remarkable method of stem cell growth that will provide the medical world with a tremendous advance in the area of stem cell therapy. Although Obokata is still in the process of further understanding how to apply his STAP method of stem cell replication to humans, I believe that once he achieves this stem cell therapy will become more widely used within the medical field, especially since STAP stem cell replication is done so much faster than all current methods of stem cell replication. I am very impressed with the results Obokata has released thus far, and I look forward to hearing about the advances he discovers in the years to come.
ReplyDeleteI thought this article was very interesting. This discovery could potentially be very helpful in the medical world as others have stated. I'm interested to see how this research is taken further in the future and what other discoveries will be made. I think this discovery will somehow in the future be beneficial to medical treatment even though Obokata still has much research to do. If the STAP method of stem cells are able to help with injury, the impact of injury on human lives could drastically change for the better.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it may be too soon to know for sure Obokata's work seems promising. With further testing her discoveries may provide a way to satisfy the needs of all those who need an organ transplant. Often patients wait months to receive an organ and many become ill or die during this time. If a new healthy organ could be grown for them the survival rate would increase. Also, this method could help those with spinal cord damage that has left them paralyzed. By replacing the damaged and irreparable cells with healthy ones that could potentially restore limb function the paralysis could be reversed. Time and research are still needed to determine whether this could ever be a viable option but the outlook is positive for the future of many illnesses/conditions.
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be fascinating and exciting because, as many others have stated, this proposes a huge advantage to both the medical and science fields. I found the process of stressing cells very interesting, and was impressed to learn that external stress can create new stem cells. The only thing I would worry about with this technique is the down sides to the method and how major they may be. Right now, I am very impressed with Obokata's work, noting the dozens of cell types she has already reprogrammed. This has already been a huge step for scientists, so I am hoping that it will progress.
ReplyDeleteTo avoid a simple rehashing of the previous points, I would instead like to note that this technology could hold great promise in the field of bio-engineering and the selective breeding of animals, as it could aid in promoting the success of certain desirable genes beyond our current potential, and could potentially be used in the manufacture of new species, or the revival of old ones (as has been suggested by some biologists before). This in turn could have great implications for myriad different areas of activity, from urban development to (theoretically) expansion beyond the Earth's borders. It's all rather exciting, and I for one look forward to eating the inevitable space chickens,
ReplyDeleteWhile this discovery is certainly amazing, I think it is even more amazing that other scientists have overlooked this possibility for so long. Hindsight is 20/20; looking back, it makes sense that inducing stress on cells would replicate what the body does to heal.
ReplyDeleteAfter the article, one particular comment intrigued me. Sui Huang mentioned that when killing cancer cells, "we stress the surviving cells and produce cancer stem cells." What are the implications of this? Are cancer stem cells more deadly that regular cancer cells? Is it possible to solve this problem using STAP cells?
I find it ironic - although not in a negative sense of the word - that the STAP cells are able to generate placental tissue, thus skipping many of the arduous technologically-difficult and -expensive tasks of retrieving donor eggs, etc. with the current state of embryonic/stem cell technology. Simplicity through technological advancement is the purest form of such advancement, I believe. I'm also skeptical to point out many negative, potentially-dystopic undertones of this technology; it merely expedites and simplifies a process we're already capable of. Hats off to the persistence of the scientists involved.
ReplyDeleteI think it is amazing that the stem cells that when stressed (discovered when being pushed through the capillary tube) could be changed. Stem cells and IPS and STAP cells have so much potential to help our medical knowledge, and the discovered facts about their versatility are advantageous to the medical field. By discovering and testing these important cells, we may find cures to diseases we never thought were possible to eradicate.
ReplyDeleteThe process Obokata had to go through in order to persuade her colleagues and Sasai that her STAP cell methods had potential was definitely prolonged. Since stem cells research is a delicate topic for some individuals, I can see how this delay could have been a relief. Research that involves the cultivation of an embryo and cloning should raise many concerns since there are certain risks involved. However, delaying Obokata’s developing method was also delaying progress. Her research is ground breaking and as long as her team proceeds to work with caution the method should be further explored. Without the essential support of her still skeptical fellow scientists, Obokata will have great difficulties advancing her work into beneficial medical advancements.
ReplyDeleteThe possibility that this new research provides is astounding. As scientists discover how to control the development of these new STAP cells, the advancements in the bio-medical field are endless. For instance, if these cells can be programmed to become nervous tissues, then it could be used to help paralyzed people with spinal cord problems. Perhaps it could even be used to fabricate new organs for people with organ failure who don't have time to wait for a transplant. Many other possibilities are imaginable as well.
ReplyDeleteIt intriguing to see leaps in stem cell growth like this coming about, but it's even more surprising that this method is just being discovered. Although imperfect, the findings and research conducted thus dar are very promising for future use in human subjects. The leaps being made today could be what we rely on to cure and heal people in just a few years. It's not surprising that there were many skeptics of Obokata's theory, but this story proves that persistence is the key in making significant discoveries and changes to the way we view science. I expect these findings will be very prominent in the near future.
ReplyDeleteI was interested to read that the fluorescently tagged cells were used to prove that the stressed cells were pluripotent. I would like to understand how the cells were made to fluoresce. Injecting fluorescent dye would likely not work because as the cells divided the dye would be diluted to the point where it would be undetectable. If the cells were genetically modified to include one or more genes that coded for a fluorescing protein from a naturally fluorescing organism then what would trigger a cell to express the foreign bit of DNA? I also wondered what makes a pluripotent cell uniquely identifiable and how do researchers trigger it to form a particular kind of cell.
ReplyDeleteI think possibly the most interesting part of this issue are the possibilities that most surely will arise from this discovery. One thing I was particularly interested about was how in-vitro fertilization can be impacted. As a child that resulted from this process, I am most surely elated to find out that many the desperate women wanting to become mothers will have a better shot at success in the future. Also (a little off topic), considering a large group of individuals still believe that embryonic stem cell research is immoral and goes against their Christian faith, this new discovery will hopefully put an end to this debate that droned on for decades without having to cross a religious barrier that would most likely offend many.
ReplyDeleteLike Kyle, I too am surprised this method is just manifesting itself as a viable means to extract stem cells. Given more time for research, I have no doubts that this method will soon be the optimal way to positively impact humans in need of stem cells. While I am not surprised that there are skeptics of Obokata's theory, his experience does show that making discoveries and altering the way science works can be a hard sell at first. I have no doubt that these findings will continue to be applied to a greater number of species and cases and ultimately have a great impact on regenerating organs, to revolutionizing the world of medicine.
ReplyDeleteYes yes yes yes yes yes yes!!! My excitement levels are so high, I feel only redundant improper grammar and incorrect punctuation can serve as an adequate medium to express my excitement. I want to go into biological engineering, and specifically to work with stem cell technologies. This study, should the result be reconfirmed as viable, have the potential to revolutionize the field of stem cell engineering, just as the invent of replaceable parts and the assembly line once revolutionized industry.One thing that stuck out to me is the low percentage of cells that actually successfully become iPS cells via this method, even if it is better than it has been in the past. Now that they seem to be proving the theory and viability of the process, I'm looking forward to seeing how much they will be able to optimize it.
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