People have always believed in immortality. Now a new stimulus for faith and a new hope for a long life in good health has appeared – scientists have discovered stem cells! Today, the scientific world is excited by the news that an anti-aging remedy has finally been found. With the help of the amazing properties of stem cells, many diseases hitherto considered incurable can be overcome, longevity and almost eternal youth can be achieved.
The study of stem cells refers to the most promising technologies created by biology in the 21st century. Until 1990, scientists did not even suspect that such cells existed in the human body. And today we already know that this great miracle was originally embedded in our body by the Creator. What are they and why does modern medicine place so many well-founded hopes on them?
The credit goes to James Thompson of the University of Wisconsin, who was the first to separate and isolate from a four-day-old human embryo cells that are basic, the starting point for the development of the organism. It is they, the stem cells, in the process of division that produce absolutely all the different types of cells – starting with the brain and ending with the epithelial ones, for example the intestines, from which the child’s body is formed.
Unlike ordinary cells, which perform strictly defined functions, such as skin or liver cells, stem cells are universal and are the starting point for the formation of specialized and differentiated cells.
Therefore, they only need to receive the appropriate genetic signal.
These unique properties of the newly discovered stem cells give scientists hope that scientists can deal with most of the problematic diseases of mankind: Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, some forms of cancer, etc. Moreover, the ability of stem cells to reproduce their own kind – they are practically an unlimited source of primary cellular raw material.
It turns out that there are stem cells in the body not only in embryos, but also in children, adults and even the elderly, although to a much lesser extent. Apart from the embryo, they are also isolated from the bone marrow, the peripheral blood contained in the veins and arteries, the blood of the placenta and the blood from the umbilical cord of the newborn.
According to their ability to produce different types of cells, stem cells are divided into three types:
1. TOTIPOTENT are the universal stem cells, which can give in the process of successive changes the whole set of cell types of the organism. Such are the embryonic stem cells.
2. PLURIPOTENT stem cells have the ability to give many different types of differentiated cells in a certain type of tissue. Such cells include the cells of the bone marrow from which all mature blood cells are formed.
3. UNIPOTENT stem cells are able to form only one differentiated tissue. These cells are deterministic – they can only give strictly defined types of terminal differentiated cells.
Generally speaking, stem cells can be likened to a universal building material from which, with appropriate genetic manipulation, everything imaginable “grows”. Including brain neurons, intestinal epithelial tissue cells, muscle, liver, fat, cartilage or cells of other internal organs.
Today, scientists are developing technologies to use stem cells to regenerate tissues and organs, in oncology, orthopedics, hematology, etc. And another revolutionary discovery by American scientists: stem cells can be used to repair nerve cells damaged by illness or brain injury – something that until yesterday science considered impossible.
However, much work remains to be done. Cells and genes hide many mysteries for modern researchers, many more are unclear. Scientists are looking for an answer to what and how unites cells into a single functional system, what are the mechanisms that ensure their information and other interactions.
Interestingly, the answers to these and many other questions that today’s scientists ask themselves in the world’s most prestigious research centers were known to the people of ancient civilizations thousands of years ago. It is no coincidence that all Eastern teachings, philosophies and medical treatises speak of the MIND OF CELLS. Many facts have been recorded, including by scholars, when Indian yogis of respectable age, after 40 days of solitude, rejuvenated and acquired the appearance of 18-year-olds. This could not have happened without knowledge of the phenomenal properties of stem cells and their ability to use them. The same can be said of the people the Bible speaks of who lived 600-800 years ago. Like many other things, this knowledge has been lost to be rediscovered today. And somewhere they are preserved, not accidentally in yogic, Buddhist, Chinese ancient sources speak of human immortality, not only spiritual. A number of current Russian scientists speak of the same as a completely achievable reality.
Stem cells are most often extracted either from the patient’s own adipose tissue (autogenous transplant) or from a human embryo obtained after an abortion. In both cases, the tissue was spread thinly and placed in an incubator. There, for several weeks, the cells multiply rapidly, and then the resulting substance is injected into the patient’s veins. The most enthusiastic inject stem cells directly into the skin of the face, looking for an immediate cosmetic effect. The procedure is by no means cheap. In Moscow clinics it costs 10-20 thousand dollars, depending on the duration of the course.
Stress, poor nutrition, unhealthy habits of giving up and working without rest, unfavorable environmental environment – all this prematurely triggers physical wear programs.
This has led some prominent members of the international political, financial and cultural elite – Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, John Rockefeller, Charlie Chaplin, Sophia Lauren, Elizabeth Taylor, Sharon Stone and many others to experience the miracle. transformation thanks to cell therapy. A few years ago, Fidel Castro’s personal physician announced that the Cuban dictator would live 140 years, hinting that he was using the achievements of cell medicine. Thus, treatment with stem cells and tissues and the biologically active substances released from them became the biggest scientific sensation at the end of the millennium.
Researchers at the University of South Florida have shown that cell therapy is an effective means of improving brain capacity in adults and restoring some lost brain function.
They injected human umbilical cord stem cells into the brain tissue of laboratory-aged animals (rats). As a result, there is a partial “rejuvenation” of the nerve cells in the brain.
Researchers are proving the ability of cell therapy to renew the nerve tissue of the adult brain. “Nerve tissue renewal decreases dramatically with age, mainly due to depletion of cell growth potential. The growth of neurons after the injection of umbilical cord stem cells is most likely due to a reduction in infection, “said Dr. Alison Wheeling, co-author of the study. According to Dr. Carmelina Gemma, head of the research team, the reduction in nerve tissue renewal that accompanies aging is the result of reduced stem cell proliferation, not cell loss.
There are two areas of stem cell concentration in the brain, one of which is in the hippocampus area. As in other areas of the body, with age, these stem cell pools lose the ability to generate new cells. A potential suppressor of regeneration is inflammation. The research team found that reducing neuronal inflammation in the brains of aged rats led to suppression of neurogenesis and improves cognitive functions.
The authors of the study hope to use umbilical cord stem cells to prevent inflammation and restore the ability of stem cells to proliferate and differentiate into neurons. The study showed that within 24 hours after the injection of umbilical cord stem cells, the number of proliferative cells increased, which effect lasted for at least 15 days. Researchers have found that this transplant reduces neural inflammation and increases the generation of new cells.
Teams of American scientists working independently of each other have identified stem cells in the heart that can grow into three different types of heart tissue, according to Reuters and New Scientist magazine. Because they have the potential to grow into different types of adult cells, each of the three teams identified the progenitor cells in question in mouse embryonic stem cell cultures. This gives scientists hope that one day these heart stem cells will be able to be used to repair and “rejuvenate” damaged organs. found that progenitor cells can develop in the three main types of tissue in the heart – heart muscle, smooth muscle and endo cells forming the coronary blood vessels. A third team at Boston Children’s Hospital has identified precursors to heart and smooth muscle. “When there is damage, it affects more than one cell type. If we are able to repair both muscles and blood vessels, it will be an important step forward in the treatment of cardiovascular disease,” said Dr. Stuart Orkin of Boston Children’s Hospital. At this stage, cellular therapies for the treatment of heart disease are hampered by the lack of suitable stem cells, experts add. Therefore, the discovery calls into question the current understanding that the types of cells in the heart are so diverse that they come from different sources. “Until now, each type of heart cell was thought to have a different origin. Now it’s clear that’s not the case. Instead of different cell types migrating and coming together to form the heart, it seems to be made up of stem cells. cells that can grow locally into different cells – a much simpler way to build an organ, “says Dr. Orkin.
(to be continued)
