Where does WI-38 come from?

WI-38 is a diploid human cell line composed of fibroblasts derived from lung tissue of a 3-month-gestation female fetus. The fetus came from the elective abortion of a Swedish woman in 1962, and was used without her knowledge or permission.

What are fetal stem cells used for?

Fetal stem cell therapy provides access to hematopoietic stem cell niches at an important time in development when stem cells are migrating to their destined tissues and offers the ability to treat a disease before birth.

What is the fibroblast?

A fibroblast is the most common type of cell found in connective tissue. Fibroblasts secrete collagen proteins that are used to maintain a structural framework for many tissues. They also play an important role in healing wounds.

What are disadvantages of embryonic stem cells?

The main disadvantage with embryonic stem cells is the way that they are acquired. Since human embryos are destroyed during the process of harvesting embryonic cells, this makes the research unpopular with those that believe human life begins at conception and that this life is being destroyed.

What do fibroblasts turn into?

More dramatically, if a preparation of bone matrix, made by grinding bone into a fine powder and dissolving away the hard mineral component, is implanted in the dermal layer of the skin, some of the cells there (probably fibroblasts) become transformed into cartilage cells, and a little later, others transform into …

Are fibroblasts terminally differentiated?

Dermal fibroblasts are the major cell type in dermis and are commonly accepted as terminally differentiated cells. Furthermore, one of the three tri-potent clones exhibited neurogenic and hepatogenic differentiation potential.

Why are A549 cells used?

The A549 cells have been used to model the alveolar Type II pulmonary epithelium. Studies have shown that this can be particularly useful in research for studying the metabolic processing of lung tissue and for identifying mechanisms of drug delivery to the tissue.

Why we shouldn’t use embryonic stem cells?

In the case of embryonic stem cell research, it is impossible to respect both moral principles.To obtain embryonic stem cells, the early embryo has to be destroyed. This means destroying a potential human life.

Why should we not use embryonic stem cells?

Stem cells differentiate into many specialized cells and are therefore of interest in chronic conditions for which treatment is limited. However, human embryonic stem cell (HESC) research is unethical since it results in the destruction of human life for research purposes.