Stem Cells

Stem cells are primal cells found in all multi-cellular organisms. They retain the ability to renew them through mitotic cell division and can differentiate into a diverse range of specialized cell types.
Stem cells are generally very early stage cells that have the ability to turn into other specialized types of cells. Most of the 300 trillion cells of the body have completely specialized functions. Blood, lung, brain, skin or liver cells are all wonderfully specialized for what they do. By and large, they cannot do anything other than what they were designed for. Stem cells, on the other hand, do not have a specialized function; they are an immature kind of cell that still has the potential to develop into many different kinds of cell. They are 'all-purpose' cells. There is another characteristic of stem cells that makes them so prized. Unlike our specialist cells, stem cells have the capacity to keep multiplying. This capacity to both proliferate and form different types of cells makes them ideal for replacing tissue that is lost. Need new pancreatic cells to replace the one you've lost to diabetes? Let stem cells churn them out for you. That's the potential of stem cells and the reason why research scientists, biotech companies and sick people are so passionate about having the freedom to develop that potential. The three broad categories of mammalian stem cells are:

1. Embryonic stem cells
2. Adult stem cells
3. Umbilical cord stem cells

Why are stem cells important?

As stem cells can be grown and transformed into specialized cells with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves through cell culture, their use in medical therapies has been proposed.Stem cells are significant for a number of reasons. These include things like: Potential therapeutic uses such as: cures for diabetes, leukemia, brain diseases like Parkinson, treatments for cancer or Multiple sclerosis (MS) etc etc. Genetically matched pluripotent embryonic stem cells generated via nuclear transfer (ntES cells) or parthenogenesis (pES cells) is a potential source of histocompatible cells and tissues for transplantation.

Why is Cord Blood so Valuable?

Umbilical cord blood is the blood left over in the umbilical cord and placenta after the birth of a baby. This blood has been found to be an extremely rich source of stem cells. These stem cells can now be used as an alternative to embryonic, bone marrow and other stem cell types. There are no ethical controversies surrounding stem cells derived from the umbilical cord as the umbilical cord and placenta are usually discarded after birth.
Baby's cord blood is a valuable source of stem cells that could be used to treat many life-threatening diseases and medical conditions. The value and benefits of umbilical cord blood stem cells are great as stem cells save life, and medical researchers are exploring new uses for umbilical cord blood stem cells in treating diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Banking cord blood means that whenever need arises, your child will have a source of stem cells that is an exact match, with almost no risk of rejection.

Interesting links-
1- Bank for umbilical cord stem cell-

http://www.lifecellindia.com/power-of-stem-cells-and-cord-blood/banking-cord-blood
2- International society for stem cell research- http://www.isscr.org/
3- Slides showing how embryonic stem cells are cultured- http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/anisamples/stemcells.html
4- Searches the Reuters news site for stories about stem cells- http://today.reuters.com/news/newssearchresults.aspx?srch=stem%20cell&searchtype=a
5- Debate about embryonic stem cell years ago (2001)- http://archives.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/07/17/cohen.otsc/

(Image source- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell)

Parthenogenesis

Parthenogenesis [Gr., =virgin birth]
In parthenogenesis ("virgin birth"), the females produce eggs, but these develop into young without ever being fertilized. In cases of parthenogenesis an ovum starts to divide by itself without fertilization, producing an embryo in which the paternal chromosomes may be replaced by a duplication of maternal ones. This asexual reproductive method is rare among warm-blooded vertebrates but more common among invertebrates. Pathological parthenogenesis has been observed in higher animals, such as the frog, fowl, and certain mammals. Parthenogenesis usually gives rise to female offspring. Attempts at artificial parthenogenesis in humans have not yet been successful. The first cloned human embryo was produced in October 2001. Eggs had their own genetic material removed and were injected with the nucleus of a donor cell. They were then incubated under special conditions to prompt them to divide and grow. One embryo grew to six cells before it stopped dividing. The same experimenters also tried to induce human eggs to divide into early embryos parthenogenetically -- without being fertilized by a sperm or enucleated and injected with a donor cell -- but their efforts met with only limited success. There is some evidence, however, that natural parthenogenesis does occasionally occur in humans. There are many instances in which impregnation have allegedly taken place in women without there being any possibility of the semen entering. In some cases it was found either in the course of pregnancy or at the time of childbirth that the female passages were obstructed. In 1956 the medical journal Lancet published a report concerning 19 alleged cases of virgin birth among women in England, who were studied by members of the British Medical Association. The six-month study convinced the investigators that human parthenogenesis was physiologically possible and had actually occurred in some of the women studied. Many primitive peoples believe that there are two methods of human reproduction: the ordinary animal one and a higher one rarely employed -- virgin birth. One belief is that the rays of the sun can fertilize women. In this regard, it is interesting that ultraviolet rays can cause parthenogenesis in unfertilized eggs of sea-urchins. It is also believed that moon rays, wind, rain, and certain types of food can cause impregnation. In the 19th century the Trobriand Islanders of the western Pacific insisted that cases of virgin birth still occurred among them.
Why choose asexual reproduction?Perhaps the better question is: Why not? After all, asexual reproduction would seem a more efficient way to reproduce and avoids all sorts of problems. Perhaps sexual reproduction has kept in style because it provides a mechanism to weed out harmful mutations that arise in the population (through the recombination process of meiosis). Some strains of the water flea Daphnia pulex reproduce sexually, others asexually. The asexual strains accumulate deleterious mutations in their mitochondrial genes four times as fast as the sexual strains. But there are many examples of populations that thrive without sex, at least while they live in a stable environment. Perhaps it is the ability to adapt to a changing environment that has caused sex to remain the method of choice for most living things. An asexual population tends to be genetically static. Mutant alleles appear but remain forever associated with the particular alleles present in the rest of that genome. Even a beneficial mutation will be doomed to extinction if trapped along with genes that reduce the fitness of that population. But with the genetic recombination provided by sex, new alleles can be shuffled into different combinations with all the other alleles available to the genome of that species. A beneficial mutation that first appears alongside harmful alleles can, with recombination, soon find itself in more fit genomes that will enable it to spread through a sexual population. The speed with which parasites like bacteria and viruses can change their virulence may provide the strongest need for their hosts to have the ability to make new gene combinations. So sex may be virtually universal because of the never-ending need to keep up with changes in parasites.The idea that a constantly-changing environment, especially with respect to parasites, drives evolution is often called the Red Queen hypothesis. It comes from Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking Glass, where the Red Queen says "Now here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place".

Image source- asymptotia.com/2007/05/26/parthenogenesis-ii/

Known Stranger

Unexpected the things are, which comes to our way.

Expected are the things we just wish for, rarely turns into reality!!

Predictable been you when you entered in my life,

That very moment in first glance I realize you,

Like a mirror image you are today of the first impression inscribed…

Time started flying and confirming the first impression inscribed...

I enjoyed all the banters,

Mirth will linger in heart forever…

As it was backed by unexpected!

Interaction with you were underlined with gray matter,

Which forced realization,

I have also some as your'sYour portrayal on canvas of my understanding,

Is like a most curious soul, who wants to know and understand me!

Unawareness of self hampers me for depiction of self.

Left it opens for perception…

Fewer are the shades which I can discern in my personality,

Among those one I will reveal today…

If I know expectation, the very next moment, it will be shed,

It shatters…I know…!

You may call it as cruelty,

But knowing the reality its better be cruel than lethal,

Nay for others but most for me…!!

Imagination sees the complete reality,

It is where past, present and future meets...

Imagination is limited neither to the reality which is apparent nor to one place,

It lives everywhere.

Imagination is the life of mental freedom.

I am so happy in your happiness.

To you happiness is a form of freedom, and of all the people I know you should be the freest.

Surely you have earned this happiness and this freedom.

Life cannot be but kind and sweet to you.

You have been so sweet and kind to life…!!

If I can open a new corner in a man's own heart to him I have not lived in vain.

I am different every day - and when I am eighty, I shall still be experimenting and changing.

(I wrote this poem in Feb'07)

Perfection

One day I asked myself what should be my idea about Perfection? And I got the answer “Lotus”, lotus is perfection…!! I pondered upon this answer deeply many times and got same answer confirmed by my deeper self again and again…. I clearly remember how I use to mix colors to get the perfect shade of lotus for school drawing and paining work, lotus was the first painting where I learnt how to give shading… Even in various poojas I did floor decoration with lotus paintings… In other words the sphere of lotus was always there in my consciousness from very beginning! And every step taken ahead made its canvas bigger and bigger. When I was in 9-10 standards in Botany I learnt scientific/ botanical name of Lotus i.e. “Nelumbo nucifera” and till now I have not forgotten; and that subject placed such a divine perfection of nature among ordinary flower and genus… But the spiritual perspective pervaded the canvas much beyond limits and made the ordinary flower an Extraordinary..!!
Imagine a lotus is emerging from chaotic expanse. Silent, uncaring, focused only on the act of emergence…. The lotus flower makes its appearance graceful, regal, and perfect in its beauty. The lotus holds center stage, as even the chaotic expanse seems to stop for a second to behold the beauty of its regal presence…. And look! A light emerges from the womb of the lotus flower a blinding, dazzling light…. It is the sun, emerging with the lotus flower, creating itself from the depths of the universe. This is the beginning of creation the very beginning of time….
Law of Mother Nature-
How well lotus follows Mother Nature….Starting life as a seed, it grows in the muddy darkness at the bottom of a pond. The darkness is like our ignorance - we can't clearly see the truth about life. The seed grows toward the warmth and light of the sun just as humans naturally grow toward the warmth of love and compassion, and toward the light of truth. The mature flower floats on the surface, bathing in the full light of the sun, well 'anchored' but moving freely according to the flow of the water - the changing current of any situation. How well it follows the cycle of day and night of Mother Nature… as disciplined child…woke up and bloom when rays of sun starts dancing and smile with the world around and when the serenity of moon showers up on it embraces all its petals and soothe them from tiredness of the day…. Lotus are beautiful both in appearance and smell - they are pleasant to have around…The same is true of people. Friends who are honest, kind, virtuous, wise and generous are a pleasure to have around…. Isn’t it..?? What is most beautiful about them is not so much their appearance, but their behavior…!!
Story from Hindu mythology-
Long ago, at the end the whole universe had been engulfed in an ocean, and Creation was all but lost. The god Vishnu, preserver of life, whose abode is the primordial waters, was asleep in this timeless darkness, dreaming of worlds to come. As his dreams unfolded, a lotus flower emerged from his navel and revealed within its many folds the cosmic egg, in which Brahma the creator, was asleep. As Brahma stirred, Creation began to unfold again, and new worlds, new gods, and new life appeared. In India today, the lotus is still considered to be the cradle of the universe, and many Indian deities are portrayed sitting on a large lotus flower.
Buddhist Outlook-
Buddhism believes that man is rooted in the materialism, but with faith in the divine and adherence to a Buddha-like nature, he can emerge pure and enlightened. Just like the lotus flower. Buddhists believe that the Lord Buddha himself was born on a lotus leaf. Legend says that when he was born, he walked seven steps in ten directions and with each step a lotus flower appeared. The lotus is thus one of the eight auspicious symbols associated with the eight-fold path to enlightenment, and symbolizes faithfulness. The blossoming of the lotus flower is also powerfully symbolic. Buddhists liken the unfolding of the petals to the unfolding of the divine within the human self. The closed bloom represents the heart with its infinite potential for enlightenment; the open blossom represents the enlightened self.
Why I consider Lotus as Perfect-
1- Lotus seed is most viable seed, viability is 14 years…!! Some seeds have been found viable after 500 years…!(Survival of the fittest- Darwinism)
2- Lotus is chosen flower for most of the Gods. (Hindu, Buddhist, Egyptian)
3- After pyramids the most analyzed shape from architectural view is lotus temple for scholars.
4- Lotus flower predominantly have two colors, pink petals and yellow center part. Pink color symbolize compassion and love, yellow color symbolize happiness and enlightenment.
5- Lotus was the first creation by God among all floras.
6- Lotus has chosen an element for origin as water, which is vital for life.
7- Different chakras in body are being symbolized by lotus petals. The highest chakra is Crown Chakra, which is denoted by 1000 petal lotus. When energy start flowing in this chakra one reaches the Perfect state called emancipation. Where true love and wisdom lies.