UPSC Mains 2017 GS Paper 3 Q6: model answer
Stem cell therapy is gaining popularity in India to treat a wide variety of medical conditions including Leukaemia, Thalassemia, damaged cornea and severe burns. Describe briefly what stem cell therapy is and what advantages it has over other treatments?
What the question wants
Briefly explain stem cell therapy and its advantages over other treatments.
How to structure it
What, how used, advantages, cautions.
- Stem cells
- Therapy
- Advantages
- Cautions
How to think it through
Undifferentiated cells that self-renew and differentiate. Types: embryonic, adult (bone marrow, cord blood), iPSCs (Yamanaka 2006). Therapy: bone marrow transplant for leukaemia, thalassaemia; limbal stem cells for cornea (LV Prasad Eye Institute); skin grafts for burns. Advantages: repair rather than manage, personalised, less rejection with autologous cells, cure where drugs fail. Cautions: unproven commercial clinics; ICMR National Guidelines for Stem Cell Research 2017; only approved therapies are haematopoietic transplants.
Model answer
At the L V Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, doctors have restored sight to many patients blinded by chemical burns, using a tiny piece of limbal stem cells from the healthy eye. Stem cell therapy repairs tissue instead of only treating symptoms.
What it is
- Stem cells can divide for long periods and turn into specialised cells such as blood, skin or nerve.
- Sources: embryonic cells, adult cells from bone marrow and cord blood, and induced pluripotent stem cells made from adult cells.
- Therapy uses these cells to replace damaged tissue.
Uses in India
- Bone marrow transplants for leukaemia and thalassaemia.
- Corneal repair and skin regeneration in burns.
Advantages
- Repairs or replaces tissue; can cure, not just manage.
- Personalised: the patient's own cells reduce rejection.
- Helps where drugs and surgery fail, as in some blood cancers.
- Reduces life-long dependence on transfusions in thalassaemia.
Cautions
- Many clinics sell unproven treatments; ICMR guidelines (2017) allow only approved uses outside trials.
- Cost and ethical issues with embryos.
Stem cells are a powerful tool, but only in the right, regulated hands.
Draw: One stem cell branching into blood, skin and nerve cells.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
stem cells, self-renewal, differentiation, embryonic, adult, iPSC, bone marrow transplant, thalassaemia, limbal stem cells, LVPEI, ICMR guidelines 2017.
Where most answers lose marks
- Overselling it as a cure for everything.
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Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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