Context
Woman’s type 1 diabetes reversed with stem cell procedure in world’s first
About Stem Cells
- Are the body’s basic raw materials, capable of generating all other specialized cells.
- Function: Under certain conditions, stem cells divide to form daughter cells.
- Self-renewal: Daughter cells can become new stem cells.
- Differentiation: They can specialize into blood cells, brain cells, heart muscle cells, etc.
- Unique Ability: No other cell type in the body can naturally produce new cell types.
- Types of Stem Cells
- Multipotent: Can give rise to multiple cells within a lineage.
- Pluripotent: Can develop into all cell types in an adult.
- Totipotent: Can give rise to all embryonic and adult lineages.
Stem Cell Therapy
- Also known as: Regenerative medicine.
- Purpose: Promotes repair of diseased, injured, or dysfunctional tissues using stem cells or their derivatives.
- Example: A Mumbai baby was treated with 40 million stem cells for lung repair using mesenchymal stem-cell therapy (adult stem cells).
- Stem Cells in Medicine
- Current Use: Hematopoietic stem cells from bone marrow are used to treat cancer and anaemia by producing new blood cells.
- Future Applications: Possible treatments for chronic heart disease, spinal cord injuries, and Alzheimer’s disease.
- Pluripotent Stem Cells: Offer potential for drug testing and creating new tissues.
About Type 1 Diabetes
- Cause: Immune system destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.
- Insulin Production: Little or no insulin is produced.
- Management: Requires daily insulin administration.
- Diagnosis: Often diagnosed in children and young people (formerly called juvenile diabetes).
| Feature | Type 1 Diabetes | Type 2 Diabetes |
| Cause | Autoimmune disorder (body attacks insulin-producing cells) | Insulin resistance (body doesn’t use insulin effectively) and/or insulin deficiency |
| Onset | Typically begins in childhood or adolescence | Usually develops later in life, often after age 40 |
| Body weight | Often normal or underweight | Often overweight or obese |
| Treatment | Insulin injections or pumps | Diet, exercise, medication (e.g., metformin), and sometimes insulin |
| Risk factors | Genetic predisposition, autoimmune factors | Family history, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, age, and certain ethnicities |
| Prevalence | Less common than type 2 | More common than type 1 |
Source:
IE
Previous Year Question
Consider the following statements:
1. Genetic changes can be introduced in the cells that produce eggs or sperms of a prospective parent.
2. A person’s genome can be edited before birth at the early embryonic stage.
3. Human induced pluripotent stem cells can be injected into the embryo of a pig.
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2020 Prelims]
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (d)
