Stem Cells and their Amazing “Potential”

This documentary is focused on the role Stem Cells are playing to model human disease. It is only now with improved abilities to manipulate human embryonic stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells that we can actually investigate the progression of many diseases such as Parkinson’s Disease, Downs Syndrome, and even extremely rare disorders like Fanconi Anemia. While the potential to treat degenerative diseases with stem cells gets a lot of press, it is using stem cells to model disease that represents the most immediate and most impactful aspect of these amazing cells.

Watch this movie and gain a better understanding of how stem cells are enabling researchers and medical professionals to finally study, in a direct way, human disease. The next two movies created during this class are also on this same theme, but delve deeper into how stem cells are being used to study specific disease types, namely CNS and blood diseases.

Student authors: Luvana Chowdry, Alexis Jaramillo, Hyunkyung Kang, and Sonia Sidhu

Many diseases and disorders impact the proper development and functioning of the nervous system. To better understand how stem cells are helping to shed light on nervous system diseases, the creators of this movie have focused on two temporally opposed diseases. Specifically, Autism spectrum disorders, which impact the development of the brain within two years of birth, and Parkinson’s Disease that does not reveal its degenerative effects until that last third of ones life.

Using these two diseases as examples, this movie details how induced pluripotent stem cells are providing a patient specific level of analysis that in some cases has directly impacted the advisement of their care. Including both scientist and patient perspectives on these diseases and the role of stem cells this movie is both as informative as it is emotionally impactful.

Student authors: Haneui Bae, Samantha Ross, and Sheila Sernoff

This documentary aims to illustrate how embryonic stem cells are particularly suited to model a very rare blood disorder Fanconi Anemia in a targeted gene specific way. The creators of this movie go to great lengths to capture the insight and practical knowledge of the leading scientists and medical professionals studying and treating patients with Fanconi Anemia, as well as the emotional reality of those who maintain hope that such scientific progress could benefit them.

Student authors: Emily Barber, Barbara Blank, and Gianna Teague

This is a documentary focused on the basic biology of stem cells while adhering to a central theme of understanding what role stem cells play in regenerative medicine. There is significant promise that stem cells may provide novel regenerative therapies for diseases and even generate whole new organs. This is an exciting time to witness how both biology and engineering come together to cure a variety of degenerative disorders and replace damaged organs. This movie explores both patient and scientist’s perspectives about the use of stems for the treatment of disease.

Student authors: Saira Huq, Gwen Huynh, Sean McGill, and Kim Chi Ngo

There is significant debate in religious venues, research labs, on Capitol Hill, and even in the court house about the use of human embryonic stem cells for research and clinical use. This documentary is focused on presenting what this debate is about, and how it has and will continue to effect research progress, federal funding, and the treatment of human blastocysts (early embryo). Since the summer of 2010 two “adult stem cell” scientists have filed a lawsuit against the federal government in an attempt to ban the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

This movie will highlight this current court case on medical ethics as a central theme to help convey the major issues being debated on this topic. Neither the student authors nor Smith College prescribe any specific position on this debate, and the opinions presented in this movie are of those individuals giving them.

Student authors: Sofia Annis, Sylvie Bae, Aparna Kamath, and Nadine Mckenzie

This documentary is focused on understanding the history and basic biology behind both reproductive and therapeutic cloning as well as the latest advances in IPSC technology. Cloning and cellular reprogramming are inherently the same biological process so this movie tries to represent applications, the science behind them, and their potential therapeutic and ethical implications.

Student authors: Christina Wright, Rachael Stein, Jiyun Seo, Carla Velez, Nguyen Huynh

This is a documentary focused on understanding the basic biology of embryonic stem cells. The movie explores where embryonic stem cells come from and how researchers are using them to study a variety of basic biological questions such as cell differentiation as well as their role in understanding and treating human diseases such as spinal motor atrophy.

Student authors: Kathryn Gorski, Beck Jacobson, and Elyse Macksoud

This is a documentary focused on understanding the basic biology of “adult” stem cells. The movie explores the different types of adult stem cells that exist and how the specialized stem cell niche controls the proliferation and differentiation of the resident stem cell. In addition, this movie introduces the connection between misregulated adult stem cells and human diseases such as cancer.

Student authors: Wende Gelb, Alexandra Sobhani, and Alyssa Zachariah

This is a documentary focused on understanding the main ethical considerations surrounding human embryonic stem cell research and related clinical therapies. The student creators of this movie attempted to convey the major components of the ethics surrounding the use of stem cells in as much of an unbiased manner as possible.The main theme is centered on the question of when “life” begins.

Student authors: Rebecca Echevarria, Hiba Jamil, Kimberly Johnson, and Jamie Moody

This is a documentary focused on understanding the basic biology of how seemingly fully differentiated cells can be reprogrammed and changed into a different type of cell, specifically turned into an embryonic-like stem cell. These induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) can potentially offer an amazing new opportunity for both basic biology and patient specific therapeutics. This movie explores how a terminally differentiated cell could be manipulated to change its cell identity, and how researchers and clinicians are planning to use IPSC better understand developmental biology and cure diseases.

Student authors: Yvanka De Soysa, Rebeca Dietrich, and Minna Park