A stem cell is an undifferentiated or immature cell with the following characteristics:
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A stem cell is an undifferentiated or immature cell with the following characteristics:
Each stem cell can divide into 2 daughter cells—only one of which will become a mature cell and the other retains capacity to divide again.
Can divide many, many times, which is very beneficial when being used to treat diseases.
Different stem cells have different potencies, including totipotent, pluripotent, and multipotent.
The tissues and organs of the human body are made of diverse and specialized cells. During development, specific genes in cells are turned on or turned off in an incredibly complex series of steps, culminating in the specialized adult or somatic (resting) cells which make up newborn babies.
Each of these specialized cell types is designed to do a few tasks proficiently and very little else. Stem cells differ from somatic cells because they are not yet completely specialized. When stem cells are placed in the proper environment with the right conditions, they can divide, multiply, and become any of a number of different cell types. You can picture stem cells as trunks or stems from which other cell types branch in the cell lineage family tree. Still present from early development, stem cells are highly abundant in umbilical cord blood.
When a cell dies, the body deploys or activates a stem cell. That stem cell either becomes (differentiates) the needed replacement cell, or it proliferates and then differentiates into the needed cell.
Stem Cell News