Virtual Lab: Stem Cells, assignment help

Lab Exercise PART 1

Lab II: Stem Cells: Replacement, Regeneration and Repair

Please
read through the laboratory exercise and follow the directions. It is
often helpful to look over the entire lab first before you begin.

You
will be entering your answers to the lab questions in the separate
laboratory report. When you complete your laboratory report, submit it
in the lab report section of Laboratory Contents and Activities.

Part 1

Virtual laboratory: Experiments and the Scientific Method

For this laboratory session you will view this 58-minute video_(new window) of
Dr. Melton of Harvard. In this video you will be introduced to his
work on stem cells and its implication for the treatment of pancreatic
disorders, specifically Type I diabetes. This video has remarkable
clips that take you through the stages of development, the source of
stem cells, and potential gene therapies. You will see some of the
experiments that show the underpinnings of our knowledge of how the
pancreas maintains its cells. Experiments with mice show you why bone
marrow transplants can be successful.

Read through this lab
before looking at the video. This will help you focus on the
experiments for the Lab Report. Answer the following questions in your
lab report and submit it in the Lab II Report section of Laboratory Content and Activities.

Lab
Questions (Note: a separate answer sheet is required for submission.
Download it from the Lab Report section, save it as a Rich text file –
rtf, add your answers to the questions, save and submit it in the
designated area).

Experiment 1: Hematopoietic stem cell experiment (39 min, 32 sec; #30)

1.
In this part of the video, Dr. Melton describes an experiment with a
mouse that has been irradiated to destroy its blood cells. For one part
of the experiment, the irradiated mouse was given whole blood.

a. Generate a hypothesis for this experiment.

b. Generate a prediction for this experiment.

2. In another experiment, an irradiated mouse was given a single hematopoietic stem cell.

a. Generate a hypothesis for this experiment

b. Generate a prediction for this experiment.

c. Discuss why there is a difference in the outcomes of the two experiments.

Experiment 2: Genetic Pulse-Chase experiment (41 min, 47 sec; #32)

3. Dr. Melton discussed how this experiment led to conclusions about the replacement of pancreatic cells.

a. What is the reason for labeling the cells in this experiment?

b. Why do we know that these cells are fully differentiated?

4. Had this experiment showed that the maintenance of the pancreas was due to stem cells, what would the cells look like

a. in the Pulse slides at time 0

b. in the Chase slides at the end of the experimental period

5. In Type I diabetes, when the beta cells are destroyed by the immune
system discuss what would be the likely outcome if we added stem cells
to this individual’s pancreas.

Part 2

Discussion: Implications for Human Biology

Stem
cell research is a complex and many faceted topic. Now that you have
seen some of the research from Dr. Melton’s laboratory at Harvard and
his colleagues it is important that you look at the scientific
literature to see what is happening today.


Think about the following questions:

• What are some of the sources of stem cells?
• What is the difference among mutipotent, pluripotent, totipotent stem cells?
• What are some of the potential applications of stem cells to human health issues?
• What current research is being conducted in the U.S.? Where and by whom?
• Are
  you aware of the research using stem cells for engineering skin tissue,
  healing horses legs, or treating Parkinson’s Disease?
• What protocols must be followed to conduct stem cell research? (What are the requirements to set up and maintain a laboratory?)
• What is the future of stem cell research?
• Has anyone had a personal experience regarding stem cells (eg., upon the birth of a child)?
• Have
  you read a novel or seen a movie that depicted the use of stem cells in
  its theme? Are the concepts correctly presented to the audience? What
  advances have been made in stem cell research since the book/screenplay
  was written?

Information needed to answer Lab

Follow
the directions in your lab experiment on and then answer the questions
on the lab report sheet. The experiment also has the questions listed
but it is important that you answer them in this lab report. It might
be helpful to look over the questions first so you will know what to
look for during your virtual experiment. Save the answer sheet to your
computer’s hard drive and then fill in the answers as you go along
(please do not use red font for your answers since most instructors use
red for corrections and comments). When you have completed the answer
sheet, submit it by attaching it in .rtf or .doc format or by pasting it
into the box provided.

ARTICLE REVIEW NEEDS TO BE ON A SEPARATE WORD DOCUMENT

Part 2 – Article Review

Your
laboratory discussion is developed to show you how the lab exercise has
implications for human biology. In each of these discussions, you will
submit an Article Review that addresses the research you select.
Following the directions in the lab exercise, you will write a paper
with the required sections noted in the lab. You will find an example
of an Article Review here
but note that the sections will vary depending upon the exercise.
Remember to follow the directions in your Lab Exercise carefully in
order to have all of the required sections addressed.

As
you work on these Article Reviews and present them to your classmates,
you will begin to use the vocabulary of science and find topics that
expand our work in this course. The goal is to bridge the laboratory
focus to how research provides the foundation for what we read in the
text and has application for future research and therapies in the field
of Human Biology.

ARTICLE REVIEW: *Please see general directions in the Reviewing Articlesmodule tab.

Find
a scientific journal article (not a website nor an article from the
popular press) or book about research involving a particular type of
stem cell (embryonic, adult, umbilical, etc). Write a review of this
article/book including the following sections:

• Link to the original article
• Citation (author, date, title, publisher, etc.)
• Summary of the article
• Glossary of terms that you or your classmates may be unfamiliar with
• Source of stem cells in your article (embryonic, adult, umbilical, etc)
• Characteristics of stem cells in your article (multipotent, pluripotent, totipotent, etc)
• Relevance to human health issues
• Next steps in this research