- Marcus Mata
1) According to you, do you see this area of research making an impact in the next 4 years?
Ans: Definitely, pertaining to Alzheimer’s while I don’t know if the disease would necessarily be cured with treatments being readily available for patients suffering from it, but I feel that in the next 4 years, this will allow for a reliable treatment towards the control and management towards Alzheimer’s disease and even if that isn’t possible, we will at least be able to further understand Alzheimer’s disease. With reference to stem cell therapy, I think it is on the cusp of being one of the largest and most widely applicable treatments in the coming future, especially in combat of neurodegeneration and symptoms of aging.
2) Does the research conducted in this paper relate to another field of study, and if so, how?
Ans: It relates to the study of Stem cell research, because stem cells are being directly used in the research paper, if we are to fully understand how stem cells work and then as such be able to manipulate stem cell into treatments for severe diseases and disorders then I believe it could also relate to Gerontology as, Alzheimer’s is a disease that primarily affects the elderly and as such by researching how to treat it we are invariably learning how to treat the symptoms of old age.
3) What do you think could be the application of this research in our lives?
Ans: With this research, (if developed enough) we could potentially understand how several degenerative diseases work and a potential cure to them which could serve to benefit every single person in their later years of life.
4) What is the main focus of research, and do you think the area of research might have sub research topics that are related to it that can prove to be helpful in the future?
Ans: The focus of this research is to develop a treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, the sub research topic is to see if stem cells could be used in simulating a model of the disease, which would allow us to fully understand it. Further sub-research topics might include- Applications of stem cell technology, understanding neurodegenerative disorders and research in how to achieve a “healthy” old age.
5) How do you think the research will be perceived by the general public? Summarize the paper in a manner that is easy for a person from a non-science background.
Ans: I think the public would react with a certain amount of backlash due to the use of stem cells and the large amount of uncertainty and misinformation associated with their production/harvesting.
In addition to this there would also be backlash due to the inclusion of genetic modification of “human” stem cells to be able to be used in treatment the disorder however I feel as though the validity and wide scope of the findings presented from the paper would allow for more support towards stem cell research and genetic modification.
The paper essentially presents the general understanding of Alzheimer’s disease that we currently have and discusses how potential treatments using stem cells or genetically modified stem cells would work in order to counter the disorder. Further-more it also discusses how we could deepen our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease by using stem cells to simulate it.
6) As a future researcher, what do you consider the shortcomings of this research?
Ans: One of the biggest shortcomings of this study is the fact that it does not have any statistical data on which it could use to prove or further discuss the effectiveness of the methods by which it presented, and as such the paper serves as more of a summary, consolidating previous studies rather than being able to present data or findings of it’s own, although it should be noted that this is likely due to the strict regulations pertaining to how research into stem cell therapies should be conducted.
For more, visit - https://stemcellsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/stem.1240
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