Stem Cell Research Poster board Project
In the last two units you have been learning various concepts related to the field of genetics. One very important medical topic around genetics and treating diseases or bodily injuries is stem cell research. Stem cells are special types of cells that can, when properly stimulated by cell signaling, become almost any type of type of body cell such as neurons in your nervous system, muscle cells, even body parts such as ears, noses, and organs.
There are basically two major groups of stem cells: Embryonic and Adult. Embryonic Stem cells have zero DNA locked up by various control mechanisms, therefore these cells can becoming anything (pluripotent) in your body. These are found during the first stages of reproduction. They are found in a round ball of cells, called a morula, right after conception. These tend to be the most controversial stem cells you hear in debates on weather it is ethical correct or incorrect to use these for research. The second group is adult stem cells. These are found in your body, but we call them adult stem cells because they have already developed certain traits and therefore have certain genes locked up and unavailable for use in those cells. They cannot become anything, but only certain types of cells. These can be found in your blood, fat, muscle, nervous tissues. These cells are not as controversial as embryonic stem cells.
Working in groups of four, you will complete an artistic display (poster board) showcasing your research on a particular area of stem cell research that is currently occurring in the world of science. This will count as a major grade for the third nine weeks.
Your display (poster board) needs to have the following items:
1)Title showing the nature of your research.
2)Definition, in large print, defining stem cells.
3)Definition, in large print, defining pluripotent.
4)Picture of a morula, to show.
5)A model of a morula. You may use any materials you wish.
6)Definition of your assigned disease.
7)A detailed description of how stem cells are being used to attempt to treat the assigned disease.
8)Potential outcomes for all of society (What else could we do?) if stem cell research is allowed to continued and is potentially funded. Pictures can be used to help show potential benefits.
Your teacher will provide your group with a copy of the grading rubric so that you can see how much each part is worth. Each member is expected to help equally in the completion of the project.
List of possible Stem Cell Research areas:
A)Bone Marrow Transplants to treat Leukemia
B)Treating Spinal cord and Brain injuries
C)Treating heart tissue damage
D)Treating deafness
E)Treating blindness
F)Treating the disease Diabetes type I
G)Treating the disease Parkinson’s Disease
H)Treating the disease ALS
I)Treating the disease Huntington’s Disease
J)Using stem cells to grow new human organs