Scientists Use Clones to Extract Stem Cells

Rafaela de Figueiredo

The name of this article is "Scientists Use Monkey Clones to Extract Stem cells" it was written by Gina Kolata. This article talks about researches in Oregon about using cloning to produce monkey embryos and then extracted stem cells from these embryos.

These research has been tested only in mice, but scientists say that the same method should work on humans. In 2004, South Korean researchers reported that if we make stem cells from cloned human embryos, they will not work. But now, with new technology we could do that and scientists are quite sure that it will work on humans.

So, the article talks about this monkeys’ stem cells that are identical to an adult monkey Semos. These cells, are ones that can in theory, develop into any tissue or organ.

Medical researchers groups have hoped to use human embryonic stem cells to study diseases and try to supply new cells to treat these diseases. So far, stem cell research has not created cures, and many problems are yet to solve.

A benefit of using cloning to get stem cells is that they would genetically match a patients cells, making it pointless to destroy the immune system if the stem cells are used in a treatment. Cloning could also produce stem cells that match patients with difficult diseases, like Alzheimer’s. That might let scientists study cells to understand how these types of diseases develop.

With the monkey research, some scientists say that cloned human embryonic stem cells could become true. There is no way to know whether this will be harder or easier to repeat this process on. “The next step is definitely doing it in humans.” - said Dr. Leonard Zon, director of the stem cell program at Harvard’s Children’s Hospital

This is something unbelievable. Imagine what it will happen if this turns out to work on humans. We could cure several diseases that nowadays seem impossible to cure. How many people have died because of Parkinson’s disease, heart diseases, stroke, cancer etc. Stem cell research can help treat lots of medical problems. It could lead humanity closer to a good treatment and possibly cure a number of diseases. The treatments of these diseases could also give major social benefits for these patients.

I have heard about lots of cases of people that have diabetes. Lots of people in my family have diabetes and the stem cell research could also help with the treatment of diabetes. My heart breaks every time I see my grandmother not been able to eat what she would like to eat or not being able to cure herself easily not even with medical help.

People that have cancer would be able to do things they can’t do. This is huge! I really hope this turns out to be a success I hope that they can use clones to extract stem cells if it is the best thing to do. I am positive that the world will be a better place if this turns out to be a triumph.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/15/science/15primate.html?ref=cloning

Blood Type Diet

Rafaela de Figueiredo
Mr. Wilkinson
MYP Biology
August 30, 2011

Blood Type Diet

This article is about a new research, which implies that every type of blood has a different type of diet. For example people that has blood type "O" should eat things that will make them healthier like meat. They are different from people with type “A” that should eat more beans and vegetables etc. It doesn’t mean that if a person with blood type "O" eats chicken they are going to die. It just says that there are different types of food that are more helpful to them then it is to others. The man who started this research was Dr. Peter DÁdamo, he discovered that for the most part our immune systems protect you from lectins. “Ninety-five percent of the lectins you absorb from your typical diets are sloughed off by the body. At least five percent of the lectins you eat are filtered into the bloodstream and different reactions in different organs.” (Michael Lam - a specialist in Preventive and Anti-Aging Medicine.) Dr. Peter DÁdamo started this in 1980, it was actually his father’s research and after his father died he became a naturopathic physician, and continued the research. He also wrote a book called "Eat Right 4 Your Type." to show his work. "So, when you eat a food containing protein lectins that are incompatible with your blood type antigen, the lectins target an organ or bodily system and begin to agglutinate blood cells in that area." (Michael Lam - specialist in Preventive and Anti-Aging Medicine)

It might be crazy when you think about it but maybe there might be some connection to what happens in our DNA. His work wasn’t confirmed yet and if it is true everyone in the world should be following their type of blood to what they eat. People would be healthier. I was interested on this article because someone had told me about this new diet but I didn’t really know what it was about. I hope they make this research more elaborate so people could actually follow this. This relates to me because I want to be a healthier person. I see lots of people not eating any kind of vegetable or anything that is healthy. When I go to the cantine I usually see people asking for French fries and pasta every day.

The areas of interaction that can be used to view this article would be "Health and Social Education" and/or "Community and Service" I think it would be health and social education because well, we are trying to get healthier and lots of people around the world don’t know how to eat. It social education they are not educated to eat certain things and it is also kind of community and service because we are all trying to help people. About one-third of U.S. adults are obese and approximately 12.5 million of them are children and adolescents so, they have to learn how to eat, be healthy not have issues and sicknesses and health problem. We don’t want that for us.

http://www.drlam.com/blood_type_diet/print/blood_o.htm