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EPDA - European Parkinsons Disease Association EPDA - European Parkinsons Disease Association EPDA - European Parkinsons Disease Association EPDA - European Parkinsons Disease Association EPDA - European Parkinsons Disease Association EPDA - European Parkinsons Disease Association EPDA - European Parkinsons Disease Association
EPDA - European Parkinsons Disease Association
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What are 'stem cell lines'?

A stem cell line is a family of constantly dividing cells, the product of a single parent group of stem cells.

They are obtained from human or animal tissues and have been manipulated in a laboratory so that they have the ability to divide almost indefinitely, creating the line.  They are frequently used for research relating to embryonic stem cells or cloning entire organisms1.

Because stem cell lines produce so many copies of themselves (dividing almost indefinitely), this means that scientists have a large ‘bank’ of cells for their research and are less likely to need to take cells from an embryo repeatedly. Once a cell line is established, it can be useful for many research projects and could ultimately lead to the development of a product to treat many patients, thanks to its renewal and expansion properties. 

Of course, it is important that researchers are also able to stop such cell lines dividing at some point so that they can generate tissue specific cells, such as for the brain in the case of Parkinson’s treatment.  The challenge for researchers is to discover how they can control the process which causes stem cells to differentiate.  This understanding could enable scientists to produce large quantities of particular cells to help treat Parkinson’s.


Did you know?

An adult human body contains approximately 100 trillion cells. 


What is cloning?

Cloning refers to the process of making a genetically identical copy of an animal by replacing the DNA found in an unfertilised egg with the DNA found in an adult cell.  This produces a genetic replica of the adult cell and is important in research for two main reasons:

  • therapeutic cloning - this aims to produce embryonic stem cells which are grown in a laboratory and can be used to replace or repair damaged tissue. This is fundamentally different in process and purpose from reproductive cloning, although there may be a general misconception that both are the same
  • reproductive cloning - this is used to create a genetic duplicate of an existing organism.  Reproductive cloning is only legal in animals and is strictly illegal in humans.  The cloned embryo is placed in the womb of the mammal until birth, as in the case of Dolly the sheep in the UK.

Did you know?

The word ‘clone’ is derived from the Greek word for trunk or branch, referring to the process whereby a new plant can be created from a twig.

 

References


  1. www.en.wikipedia.org

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