I have to admit I didn’t know much about this subject until recently when I came across an article and I had problem understanding it. Biology has never been my favorite subject. As I was reading more about stem cells I realized that this is something could be important in my lifetime too. Cell-based therapies can prevent and cure many presently incurable illnesses hopefully in my lifetime. There won’t be any need for transplantable tissues and organs.
Stem cells are very unique cells. They have the potential to develop into many different cell types during early life and growth and later on they can repair damaged cells. When a stem cell divides it can remain stem cell or become a more specialized cell such as muscle cell, red blood, or brain cell.
There are basically two types of stem cells, embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are developed from embryos from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro, they don’t come from eggs fertilized in a woman’s body. Embryonic stem cells are grown in laboratory. A large number of cells can be grown this way and stay healthy for a relatively long period of time. These stem cells can divide in to any type of specialized cells. Adult stem cells are also undifferentiated cells found among regular cells. Their primary function is to maintain and repair the tissue in which they are found. Adult stem cells can be found in many organs and tissues such as the brain, bone marrow, blood vessel, muscle, heart, teeth, liver and more. There are only a small number of stem cells in each tissue. It’s difficult to grow a large number of adult stem cells.
Stem cells offer the possibility of a renewable source of replacement cells and tissues. With stem cells there is a possibility to cure Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, diabetes, spinal cord injury, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and many more.
No comments:
Post a Comment