Austin Richards

Dr. Michaela Gasdik-Stofer

Biol-1250

March 16, 2017

Regeneration of Cells

Ever one has probably a couple of things that they would like to change about their bodies. Whether someone would like to be taller or shorter than they are, or if they wish they had different color of eyes. There have been many experiments done where scientist have been able to recreate human cells to help repair or change part of the body.

In the article “Waiting to Reprogram Your Cells? Don't Hold Your Breath” the author explains Kyoto University back in 2006 discovered that they could create iPS cells from mouse skin cells it was amazing. Then in 2007 James Thomson replicated the experiment but with human skin cell, this was a huge discovery. Later it was discovered that using the iPS cells also meant having a high risk of cancer cells as the cells began to repair the other cells in the body. This made it harder to continue the research. Today there are hospital in Japan using banks of iPS cells to discover more about medicine and how it can affect the body. So, the dream of customizing your cells is still a little far way but with time it will be a possibility.

This article interested me because I have always thought it would be amazing to be able to program the body to repair its own organs or can help other people with genetic problems. It also was awesome to be able to know that we have the technology to basically create new organs and then test how certain medicines affect the organs before we use them on people.

This article also interested me because I have always considered the medical field and have been interested in stem cell research as it has progress through the years. I am very curious to see where stem cell research will take us in the next years to come.

Article used: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/waiting-to-reprogram-your-cells-dont-hold-your-breath/