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What are stem cells?

What are some types of stem cells?

  • Stem Cells??? -Types of stem cells, and their differences. -Ways stem cells can help cure disease -why is stem cell Research and usage an ethical issue? and if you have any good websites that can help me understand stem cells and better please leave the link! THANKS :)

  • Answer:

    Well stem cells are a kind of cell which has not been designated as a specific type of cell and so they can be used to generate all kinds of different cells. They are typically found in an embryo as the starting cell is a stem cell that divides to create cells which can become any kind of cell in the body, as the embryo gets older however, the cells are assigned specific types e.g. a muscle cell or a brain cell. There are however a few stem cells which are found in the adult body in the bone marrow. Stem cells can help to cure diseases as they can help to restore organ function, say if you had liver disease, stem cells could be used to create new healthy liver tissue. Many types of cells are not naturally replaced in the body like muscles and neurons and so stem cells could be used to help people with muscle wasteage or nerve damage. There is almost no end to the possibilities. The ethical dilemma comes when you look at the source of the stem cells. Although there are some in the adult body these are few and far between and not particularly easy to get at and so using embryos is the only other option. This requires fertilising an egg cell and that theoretically is creating a human life. A quick google comes up with these sites which look to be a good source of information: http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/ http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/stem_cell/

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I hope this helps, I wrote this some time ago and you can see the whole article at the link below:Stems cells are also categorized by potency, their ability to differentiate into other cell types, depending on their stage of development. A complete classification would include the following: Totipotent: The capacity to differentiate into all potential cell types (e.g., zygote formed at egg fertilization). Pluripotent: The capability to differentiate into nearly all cell types (e.g., embryonic stem cells). Multipotent: The capability to differentiate into a family of directly related cells (e.g., hematopoietic [adult] stem cells that can become red and white blood cells or platelets). Oligopotent: The capability to differentiate into a few cells (e.g., [adult] lymphoid or myeloid stem cells. Unipotent: The capacity to produce only cells of their own kind, but have the characteristics of self renewal that is required to be labeled a stem cell (e.g., [adult] muscle stem cells).[ii] http://www.newsonhealthcare.com/stem-cell-research-it-must-be-funded-no-it-must-not/

Stem cells can be classified into three broad categories, based on their ability to differentiate. Totipotent stem cells are found only in early embryos. Each cell can form a complete organism (e.g., identical twins). Pluripotent stem cells exist in the undifferentiated inner cell mass of the blastocyst and can form any of the over 200 different cell types found in the body. Multipotent stem cells are derived from fetal tissue, cord blood and adult stem cells. Although their ability to differentiate is more limited than pluripotent stem cells, they already have a track record of success in cell-based therapies. Here is a current list of the sources of stem cells: Embryonic stem cells - are harvested from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst seven to ten days after fertilization. Fetal stem cells - are taken from the germline tissues that will make up the gonads of aborted fetuses. Umbilical cord stem cells - Umbilical cord blood contains stem cells similar to those found in bone marrow. Placenta derived stem cells - up to ten times as many stem cells can be harvested from a placenta as from cord blood. Adult stem cells - Many adult tissues contain stem cells that can be isolated.

Paul

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