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by Ndifor Abongnifor

REGENERATIVE MEDICINE AND THE ETHICAL QUESTIONS SURROUNDING IT.

"The stem cell debate has led scientist and non scientist alike to contemplate profound issues, such as who we are and what makes us human being" (NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, USA).
These days, it is very common to hear of people sick of life threatening diseases like diabetes, cancer, sickle cell anemia, Parkinson disease and some people who are disabled due to paralysis of their limbs.

Think of this ten year old boy who has been disabled by sickle cell anemia. He lives in constant pain and rely on pain relief peals for comfort. He can no longer walk and play with his friends. He can only use a wheel chair to go around his own home which he used to play and run around. His friends no longer like to visit him and be around him. He is lonely and sad.
Imagine that this ten year old boy could go to doctor and have new bone marrow cells, specially cultured in the laboratory transplanted to replace his damaged bone marrow. As these new cells become functional, he could gradually become relieved of the pains and will not need to live on pain relief peals.
Think of this 30years old lay who has been paralyzed since she was 10, because of a damaged nerve. She has not been able to walk for 20 years. She has to use her wheel chair to take to work, and she cannot go out with her friends as she wishes just because she can't walk. Imagine that this lady could go to a doctor and have a new nerve specially cultured in the laboratory transplanted into her body to replace her damaged nerve. As this new nerve becomes functional, she could gradually start walking again.
This sounds like science fiction, but in 1998, scientist found a way to culture a particular type of human cells known as stem cells. There are over 200 different types of cells in the human body. Stem cells can grow and differentiate to almost all of these 200 different cell types.
In the past decades, patients suffering from diseases such as end-stage kidney disease and liver failure could be saved by organ transplant. The kidneys from another healthy person could be transplanted to replace the damaged kidney of the patient. The same thing could be done in the case of liver failure.
Kidney transplant was relatively easy because an individual can survive and live well only with one kidney. The problem was with getting a kidney from a donor which matches with that of the patient. This is because the body's immune system will reject any organ which

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