Stem Cells Video | Top 3 Stem Cell Videos on YouTube

2. Transplant Cells, Not Organs TED Talk

Dr. Susan Lim is a pioneering surgeon who performed Asias first successful liver transplant in 1990. In this stem cells TED Talk at the INK conference, Dr. Lim explores the moralconcern of using transplants and discusses transplanting cells instead of organs.

In this stem cell video, she said that before she performed the successful liver transplant, she underwent transplantation training under two pioneering surgeons. Her instructors were Thomas Starzl and Roy Calne, a physician who performed the worlds first successful liver transplant and the first surgeon who did the same procedure in the UK, respectively. The patient who underwent a successful liver transplant is the longest surviving cadaveric liver transplant in Asia to date.

Dr. Lim also stated the fact: Not all patients on the transplant wait list are so fortunate. The truth is, there are just simply not enough organ donors to go around. As the demand for organ donors continues to rise, in large part due to the aging population, the supply has remained relatively constant.

When she was obtaining organs from executed prisoners, Dr. Lim was troubled that the retrieval was at least as morally controversial as the harvesting of stem cells from human embryos. But, later on, in her years of practice, concepts of transplantations shifted from whole organs to cells. In 1988 at the University of Minnesota, she participated in a small series of whole organ pancreas transplants and witnessed the technical difficulty of the procedure that inspired her to shift from the whole organ to cell transplant.

The observation was that stem cells could give rise to different cell types, such as heart, liver, and pancreatic islet cells. She then focused her research on stem cells as a possible source of cell transplants. Although embryonic stem cells have occupied center stage because they are pluripotent stem cells, in which they have the ability to differentiate into a variety of cell types, the moral controversy surrounding this stem cell type is the fact that these are derived from five-day-old human embryos.

She then inspired her lab to focus on what she thought was the most non-controversial stem cell type: adipose tissue or fat. Fat-derived stem cells are adult stem cells found in the blood, bone marrow, fat, skin, and other organs. According to her, fat is one of the best sources of adult stem cells. Her team focuses on converting fat cells and reprogramming them into youthful cells, then to more specialized ones, which can be used as cell transplants. If their research is successful, it may reduce the need forhuman embryos.

Scientists are finding more ways to enhance the bodys ability to heal itself through stem cells. When the organs or tissues are injured, the bone marrow allows stem cells to enter into the bodys circulation.They access the damaged organs through the bloodstream,to produce growth factors and repair damaged tissues.

Stem cells may also be used as building blocks to repair the damaged liver. They are useful for heart diseaseas well, to deliver growth factors and repair heart muscles.

Heres the full stem cells video of Dr. Lim that has gotten over 1 million views on YouTube:

Lawrence Goldstein, a distinguished professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and the Department of Neurosciences at UCSD School of Medicine and the director of the UCSD Stem Cell Program, discusses the basic principles of stem cells. He examines the promise they offer and how they can be safely and effectively employed.

Goldstein started with how stem cells function as small businesses in the human body. They have different jobs, such as being specialized or differentiated, like pancreatic cells for insulin, and heart cells for pumping blood. The reason for stem cells thats relevant to human diseases is that many types of illnesses are caused by the breakdowns of cells. These cells can either be alive but damaged, or die and are lost.

Stem cells are promising because they are biological raw materials to replace damaged cells and organs. They are also tools for understanding and combating diseases and for testing and developing new drugs. Stem cell treatments are a biological technology that offers broad applications for treating diseases.

Achieving an effective cell replacement therapy requires having more than just a basic understanding of which cells are defective or dying. For example, in Type I diabetes, it should be understood that theres a reason why the cells that make insulin die. The reason for this is because Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease, where the immune system acts out of control and attacks cells within the pancreas.

Replacing cells in the pancreas with stem cells does not completely treat the type I diabetic patient, because the immune system may attack the pancreas again. There needs to be a protective mechanism that somehow shields the pancreas from immune system attacks.

Heres the incredible stem cell video by UCTV that has over 139 thousand views:

Each stem cell video explains the importance of stem cell transplantation for treating disease or injury. While the therapeutic potential of stem cells is still being explored, one thing is certain:the future of stem cells in medicine is promising.

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Up Next: Hematopoietic Stem Cells: What Diseases Can these Stem Cells Treat?

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Stem Cells Video | Top 3 Stem Cell Videos on YouTube