AP+Stem+Cell+Article+HW

Stem Cell Article (1) When were stem cells first taken from a human embryo?
 * The first stem cells were taken in 1998 by James A. Thomson.

(2) Why is obtaining stem cells from a human embryo so controversial?
 * They can turn ordinary skin celss to be embryonic stem cells with out using the human embryo.

(3) What was/is the source of human embryos for stem cell research?
 * A sperm and a egg is the source of human embryo stem cell research where they add it to the a skin cell.

(4) What is a stem cell?
 * A stem cell can turn into any of the body’s 220 cell types.

(5) What diseases do we think we could treat with stem cells?
 * Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s in a petri dish, finding causes and treatments.

(6) Dr. Thomson is in the news again because he has turned ordinary skin cells into stem cells. How did he do this?
 * First he he extracted stem cells from monkey embryos. Then he started to work with human embryos to pursue his career farther. The he anticipateed what the ethical problems might be and what the criticisms might be. He then tired to find out how he could make an exact duplicate of an egg. All he had to do was add four genes to the cells and the cells would turn into what look, just like stem cells.