What are stem cells Genetics Biology FuseSchool

Our body is the ultimate factory. Each cell has its specific task to accomplish and is designed to perform that task perfectly. The fate of each cell is determined at the embryonic stage and cannot be changed thereafter.

However, cutting-edge research has made a major discovery for modern science: there are these wonderful cells called stem cells. These cells have the ability to become any type of cell because they are not specialized.

Scientists were extremely excited about their discovery because they can be used to repair damaged organs, bones or cartilage. They could also be used to help treat diseases, for example by making new brain cells to treat people with Parkinson's disease. Or, they could be used to repair damaged immune systems, and even reverse paralysis or regrow lost limbs. The discovery of stem cells is of major importance for modern medicine and could have a considerable impact.

There are two types of stem cells in humans: embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells.

Embryonic stem cells are unspecialized cells that can develop into any type of cell. Adult stem cells are also unspecialized cells, but although they can develop into many cell types, unlike embryonic stem cells, they cannot develop into all cell types.

Adult stem cells come from tissues such as bone marrow. As the name suggests, embryonic stem cells can be taken from unused embryos, such as those left over from fertility treatments for example.

Although the discovery of stem cells offers enormous potential for modern medicine, many social and ethical considerations must be taken into account. Much research has been and still is needed to find out exactly how they work and how we can control them to do what we want; and not just growing uncontrollably.

Stem cells are already used in treatments.

Therapeutic cloning is one of the major social and ethical debates surrounding stem cells. This is the concept of cloning a patient, growing an embryo from the cloned cells, and then extracting the stem cells from the embryo to grow the specific organ the patient needs . The patient's body would not reject this organ, because it is made from the patient's own cells.

Unspecialized stem cells also exist in plants and can develop into flower, root, or leaf cells. Unlike animal cells, some plant cells remain unspecialized and can then develop into any type of plant cell. Unspecialized plant cells group together into structures called meristems. While animals stop growing when they become adults, this is not the case for plants. Indeed, meristems divide to produce cells, allowing plants to continue to grow in height and width throughout their life. They also produce cells that develop into flowers and leaves.

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