My Journey in Learning about Stem Cells

Most people can pinpoint the exact moment that they found their passion in life. My passion started in my ninth grade biology class when we were assigned to research what stem cell research is and the ethical debate behind it. Some of the debate mentioned in that assignment was whether stem cell research was the same concept as cloning. What started out as another assignment ended up igniting my passion for molecular biology and subsequently stem cell research.

Right before the assignment was introduced, my biology teacher used Dolly the Sheep to introduce cloning. This was due to both topics encompassing the field of genetics.

So, what about the assignment sparked my interest in the field of stem cell research? Both of my parents are in health-care professions so medicine interested me from a young age. Reading scientific articles about how stem cell researchers believe they can cure terminal or chronic illness immediately grabbed my attention. But then I got to the ethics part of the assignment, and I couldn’t stop researching. I was amazed that something so ground-breaking could be so controversial especially in the realms of politics and religion.

At that time, I believed that I wanted to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering  so that I could design prosthetics. However, I went out of my comfort zone in my sophomore year of high school when my chemistry teacher decided after three days of having me as a student that he wanted me to perform a research project stimulating controlled-release therapy of drugs using only pineapple juice and gelatin. I undertook the massive project and for the next six months I slowly fell in love with research. Something that I was afraid of undertaking taught me that I had to go out of my comfort zone in order to find what made me happy.

I never expected that in the middle of my junior year of high school, I would suddenly decide that biomedical engineering wasn’t where my heart was. After feeling lost, my english teacher assigned an argumentative paper on an ethics issue in today’s society. I chose stem cell research since I already knew it was such a controversial topic. My teacher also knew about my uneasiness about not knowing what I wanted to do later in my life. After reading my essay, she pulled me aside and said that I should look into pursuing stem cell research as a potential career.

Even though that advice made me consider possible degree options that would lead to a career in stem cell research, the final push that I needed was in my high school anatomy class. We were studying the epithelial system, which is the cells that make up the various types of tissue in the body. My teacher thought that the best way to show the importance of the system was to show a video about various cases where the epithelial system was severely damaged.

The device pictured above was shown in the video. It is a spray gun that has been engineered to specifically spray stem cells. The purpose of the device is to use a person’s stem cells to produce new skin cells in a significantly less time than a skin graph would take. This would significantly reduce the risk of infections after treatment. The device was tested on patient with second and third degree burns, and the before and after pictures were shown.

I immediately decided that this was the path that I wanted to pursue in my life. I decided to pursue a degree in molecular biology and eventually decided to continue my education at Penn State. My journey in stem cell research has just begun and I can’t wait to see where it take me in the future.

 

 

 

8 thoughts on “My Journey in Learning about Stem Cells

  1. You probably already know this since we’re in the same major, but I love this topic too! I have a somewhat similar experience as you in choosing what I am learning right now. I got to know biology for the first time in tenth grade. Although I disliked the ecology component of the subject, I fell in love immediately with genetics and cell biology, and that’s why I decided to study molecular biology (#BiologyMinusEcology). However, I was not as determined as you were, and I am still not sure if this is what I will be doing in the future, so I respect you for knowing what you want to do clearly. I read that you were lost when you realized that biomedical engineering was not what you wanted to do. Maybe this is unnecessary, but I want to say that it is totally okay to not know what you want to do! Maybe I know what I like , but that doesn’t really mean I want to pursue that career. I still don’t know what I will be doing 2 or 3 years from now. I think the most important thing is to try your best in whatever you love right now!

  2. Also, I am amazed my the stem cell spray thing! That is awesome! I’ve read some articles about stem cell research and the unlimited possibility of this field, and I am very excited to see what will happen and hope that maybe one day we can be a part of this great research opportunity.

  3. I think the topic of stem cell research is very interesting, so I really like the idea of your blog. It is certainly a controversial issue to many, but an intriguing topic to many others. I learned about stem cells in high school, and I had a similar interest in them at the time. Their seemingly limitless possibilities pose so many interesting questions to medical professionals everywhere. I think it is pretty interesting that you chose to write about this topic, too, since it is quite complex and hard to understand. You definitely seem to know what you are talking about though, so you are obviously pretty passionate about it. I learned a lot about stem cells that I did not know before, like the spray, so I am excited to read more in the future.

  4. It is amazing that you were able to discover your passion so early on in life. I also remember learning about stem cell research the surrounding ethical debate in ninth grade science class. At the time, I had already been exposed to science fiction movies and misinformation regarding cloning, and the class helped me understand some basic scientific principals behind stem cell research. Your experience with research in different scientific fields also sounds extremely interesting, and I hope you are able to provide more detain into these opportunities in later posts. Overall, I am excited to become more educated on this contentious topic and learn about your goals and objectives moving forward.

  5. Your story inspires me since I am an undergraduate student at the University of the West Indies also learning about the beauty of stem cell research. The medical applications of stem cells are numerous and range from understanding and creating treatments for Parkinson’s disease to extracting insulin from stem cells that are conditioned to produce it. Newcastle University in the United Kingdom has a research team that successfully used 3D Bioprinting (using Stem Cell Bioink) to print human corneas for transplantation in cases of corneal blindness and trachoma. This is simply the beginning of the medical advances and applications of stem cell research. Stem cell research will definitely be an asset to medicine and science in the years to come.
    Good luck and best wishes!

    -Sonia V. Ramkissoon
    Biology Undergraduate Student

  6. Stem cell research to me, is an amazing discovery in the science world. I pursue a Major in Biology at university, and this topic of stem cells have become increasingly interesting to me. I love the idea of using our own genetic makeup and re-purposing it for people who are in dire need of medical attention. Detrimental problems such as severe skin burns, diabetes and leukemia are no longer a lingering problem, thanks to stem cell research. The ethics of using embryonic cells is controversial, however, one must consider that this is solely based on the greater good of humanity. In my opinion, I am totally for the use of embryonic stem cells.

    – Shenera Thomas

  7. Stem cells have the potential to replicate, renew itself and differentiate; thus, essentially making new cells that would benefit its human host. The value and use of stem cells for medical applications is a topic of great importance since much information is known about this cell and the potential it must aid in the treatment of incurable diseases. A single Stem cell can differentiate into different cell types and has the potency to commit to one cell type. For example, embryonic stem cells have the potential to commit to becoming a skin cell and form the dermal layer of the body or it can commit to becoming a muscle cell and form cardiac muscles in the heart. However, these decisions are influenced by the internal and external factors of the body.
    The knowledge that cells can communicate with one another and make decisions with regards to their fate is one very exciting observation. This means that researchers and scientists can influence stem cells to form new cells of a certain type which can have a huge positive impact on medical applications for people not only with incurable diseases (such as, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease); but for people who have damaged organs and other tissues due to accidents or other causes.

  8. An interesting point to note which is mentioned in your blog as well as in research papers is the fact that stem cells have the ability to cure various diseases such as patients with diabetes as well as provide the ability for patients with third degree burns to have another chance at life and that has always been fascinating to me. Although, there are political and religious concerns with the use of stem cell to treat patients with various diseases, i am positive that this form of treatment will be quite the break through in the medical field as it seems to be very effective.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *