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| The Effects of Mytomycin-C on Stem Cells |
Elizabeth Hughes and Hannah Yewondwossen
Abstract
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Since stem cells have the ability to continually grow and systematically divide, tumours may result. When experimental medical transplantation has been done on rodents, inflammation of the area due to the growth of the stem cells did occur. This growth turned into a hardened lump known to us as a tumour. Tumours are a proliferation of neoplastic cells. Hypothetically, stem cells could be grown to replace the cells lost in people with neurodegenerative diseases. (This includes Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease).
Stem cells have the potential to repair the body with their unique feature of being able to self-replicate and change into different cell types. In order to use stem cells for brain repair, it is important to understand fully the growth and differentiation properties of these unique cells. During this experiment, we studied the effects of an anti-tumour drug on the growth and differentiation of stem cells.
We found that Mitomycin-C when given in the correct dosage does not harm the cell. The cells were still able to differentiate, sixty five to seventy percent of the time differentiated as to become neurons. As we thought, it also stops cell growth and proliferation and does not kill the cells. If given in negligible amounts, it will not produce any result inside the cells. If given in too great a dose, the cells will be destroyed.
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