Stem\ncells are cells that renew themselves by dividing and multiplying and can\nmature into various cell types with different, specific functions. They\ntherefore have the potential to renew cells and tissues in our body. The\nblood-forming stem cells in our bone marrow, for example, produce the entire\nrange of blood cells, i.e. red and white blood corpuscles and platelets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\ncharacteristic of stem cells is already being used for in vitro<\/em> tests of\nnew medicinal products, for disease models, to estimate the safety of medicines\nand also to treat diseases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Adult\nstem cells are used in bone marrow transplants, for example. They are capable\nof differentiating into different blood cells, but cannot form other types of\ncells such as nerve cells. Research needs to use embryonic stem cells to grow\nspecific cell types, tissues or even entire organs that play a valuable part in\ntherapy, replacing diseased tissues and organs in the body. These cells have\nthe potential to form all the cells in the body. It is hoped that one day\nembryonic stem cells will mature into heart, nerve and muscle cells and help to\nfind new approaches to the therapy of diseases such as Parkinson\u2019s disease,\nAlzheimer\u2019s disease and diabetes. At the moment, this is still a vision of the\nfuture. If it is to become reality, it must be possible to use stem cells in\nresearch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nlegal framework for stem cell research in Switzerland is formed by the Stem\nCell Research Act (StRA) that has been in force since 2005. It regulates the\nharvesting of embryonic stem cells from embryos that are superfluous to\nrequirements as well as research with embryonic stem cells. Superfluous embryos\nare a by-product of in vitro<\/em> fertilisation, a process used in medically\nassisted reproduction. The current law requires them to be destroyed. The Stem\nCell Research Act stipulates the strict conditions under which embryonic stem\ncells for research purposes may be harvested from some of these superfluous\nembryos that would otherwise be destroyed. It is forbidden to create embryos\nfor research purposes in Switzerland. The aim of the Stem Cell Research Act is\nto prevent misuse and preserve human dignity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stem cells are cells that renew themselves by dividing and multiplying and can mature into various cell types with different, specific functions. They therefore have the potential to renew cells and tissues in our body. The blood-forming stem cells in our bone marrow, for example, produce the entire range of blood cells, i.e. red and white […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4178,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/unterthema.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4226","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStem Cell Research Act\n(StRA)<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n