In today's society where human civilization and science and technology are highly developed, human beings are still faced with the problems of birth, aging, sickness and death. In daily life, an item can continue to extend its useful life by returning to the factory for maintenance, can human beings resist the attack of disease with the help of some technology?

Scientists have found that a class of omnipotent stem cells, through proliferation, differentiation, renewal and replication to produce new, healthy organs and tissues, thus extending the life span of human beings. How on earth did it come true? What kind of development will there be? To this end, the SELF forum of the Chinese Academy of Sciences invited Academician Pei Gang to make an in-depth interpretation.

01、Stem cells can really live forever? 

We now know that life on earth, human beings, all kinds of animals, plants, and the microscopic world invisible to the naked eye, are all made up of cells. So how life multiplies, changes, evolves, and forms a complex world, all rely on these many cells in the work. There are also a variety of different categories of cells, one of which is very special and has an important function that other cells do not have-continuous reproduction, self-replication, self-renewal. These cells are stem cells.

Which cells can be considered stem cells? For example, both humans and animals evolve from fertilized eggs, which continue to divide and differentiate, gradually forming what we call "embryos." Our various organs and their functions are obtained from fertilized eggs.

Therefore, the fertilized egg is a kind of very primitive cells, which has the potential to develop into various tissues and organs of the adult body. This type of cell, which has the potential to become a variety of other cells, is stem cells. The easiest way to get stem cells is also from embryos, so they are also called embryonic stem cells.

02、Stem cells that can "pass through" 

For a person, there is only one life, on the axis of time, from birth to growth to maturity to aging and then to death, this is an irreversible one-way street, so for us human beings, life is very precious. Our life begins with stem cells, develops from a fertilized egg to an individual, and cannot turn back as time goes by.

But scientists have been thinking about the question: can cells turn around or not? Can we go back to the original state? From a specific cell, such as the cell on the nose, the cell in the eye, the cell in the head, can it come back into a cell with the potential to become other cells?

A decade ago, Yamanaka, a Japanese scientist, conducted an experiment in which he used a histone to return a differentiated cell to a state with stem cell potential, a reversal that opened the door for human understanding of cell biology. The beautiful vision of human longevity, health and longevity will see new hope, because it is closely related to stem cells. This method will greatly expand the application of stem cells. Stomach disease, heart disease, hyperglycemia, hypertension and other diseases can be prevented or even treated by improving the function of stem cells.

03、Artificial organs, the hero of human health. 

With the passage of time, there will always be aging and damage of some parts of a car, at this time we are used to sending it to the repair shop for repair. it is the tire that changes the tire and the water pump that breaks down. If human health can also pass maintenance, then our life will be greatly extended, and the quality of life will be qualitatively improved.

Surgeons put forward the concept of "organ transplant" more than a hundred years ago, but the biggest problem we are facing now is the source of organs. Cars can be extended by replacing parts, which are supplied by parts manufacturers; can humans also use "organ factories" to replace some of our aging and unhealthy "parts"? This is the organ engineering and tissue engineering that we often talk about now.

Stem cells become an ideal material, because it is an omnipotent cell. Under certain conditions, it can change from a specific cell to a stem cell, kidney cell, lung cell, and heart cell. Through some necessary conditions, it can become an organ. Once this functional organ is formed, the supply of organs to us will not be a problem, and human health and longevity will be better guaranteed.

04、To treat the development of stem cells correctly, we should not give up eating for fear of choking. 

Everything has two sides, like any other new science, although stem cells can benefit human beings, there are also some corresponding problems, especially ethical and moral problems. We must not take this lightly, nor can we talk about it.

Nowadays, gene editing, which is more concerned by the scientific community, has been criticized by the world. On the one hand, some human genetic diseases can be treated and corrected in genes through this technology, thus rewriting an individual's life. On the other hand, this kind of gene editing is operated on embryos, sperm and eggs, which changes not only the trajectory of a person's life, but also the development of all his offspring and even mankind as a whole.

Just like artificial intelligence, on the one hand, human beings are making great efforts to study it, on the other hand, they are worried that once its degree of development exceeds that of human beings, it may dominate us. Before, no one knew that there were abundant dental pulp stem cells in teeth, which could save lives. The development of science and technology was always surprising and continued research.

There is also such a problem in gene editing, but Professor Pei Gang said that science is an important weapon, method and means for the progress of human civilization, and we should not be afraid of it. We should operate in a rational manner within the scope of morality and ethics acceptable to society. There are both good and bad aspects of a thing. We should not give up the whole good aspect just because of some bad aspects. I hope everyone will not give up eating for fear of choking.