Pages

Stem Cell


Stem Cell :
On Thursday. September 15. 2005. Mike Hagan. paraplegic since 200!. began to roll himself from Florida to California in a manually powered wheelchair to raise funds and awareness about stem cell research. Hagan lost use of the lower half of his body when a water taxi traveling at high speed slammed into his boat and broke his back in two places. He was transported by helicopter to Tampa General Hospital. where he saw para lyzed children struggling with the same problems he had. He admired greatly the efforts of Christopher Reeve to promote stem cell research, and when Reeve died in 2004. he knew he had to ad The florida-to-California journey took him about 85 days; he divided the funds he raised between the Christopher Reeve Foundation and the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. Hagan trained for months and left his family for the grueling ordeal that took him through days of hot and cold to pursue the idea of stem cell
research. Hagan’s adventure is only one story that appears in the media about stem cells. Week after week, stem cells are in the news—more than singers. actors, and rock stars. But no one seems to know much about them. They are curious, mysterious, and unusual. What are these unknown blank slates that can provide the raw materials of life? Terms like immortal, unlimited, and continuous have been used to describe them. If these words are accurate, what does it mean? The goal of this chapter is to present scientific knowledge about Stem cells. beginning with basic information about them.


No comments:

Post a Comment