In adults, stem cells are the silent heroes, coming to the rescue when cells bite the dust because of sickness or injury. When a cell switches gears and gets a new job, scientists call it "differentiation." Once it's settled into its groove, scientists say it's "differentiated." But before all that, stem cells are just chilling, undifferentiated, and waiting for their moment in the spotlight.
So, the primary question that comes to your mind is what are stem cells? When a mammalian embryo is just a few days old, it starts cooking up this little crew of cells called the 'inner cell mass.'
These cells are like the big kahunas of stem cells; they're the ones that get the ball rolling when it comes to creating all the different cell types in the body. Scientists put their thinking caps on and get to work whipping up what we call embryonic stem (ES) cells from this inner cell mass.
As the embryo grows, it starts pumping out all sorts of different stem cells that go on to make the fancy tissues and organs we need to keep ticking. Some tissues, like blood and skin, have these handy-dandy stem cells that are always on standby, ready to swoop in and replace any cells that have gone kaput. But in other parts of the body, stem cells are a bit more elusive.
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The game changer: stem cells in clinical applications
Compared to their embryonic and progenitor counterparts, clinical-grade stem cells carry a reduced risk of transplant rejection because they share the same genetic material as the donor they were derived from.
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Human blood transfusion
Imagine a world where we no longer worry about blood shortages or compatibility issues during transfusions. Scientists from Regenamex are already hard at work studying artificial blood production, aiming to create universal red blood cells (RBCs) for transfusion.
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Replacing tissues and organs
Every minute, someone dies from a disease that could potentially be treated with tissue or organ replacement. Current transplantation systems are plagued by limited donor supply but stem cells offer a glimmer of hope.
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NDD treatment
Stem cells could potentially wipe out inherited neurological disorders in grown-ups like Parkinson’s Disease and Spinocerebellar Ataxia. researchers may one day use stem cells to patch up damaged tissue in Parkinson's patients, flooding the brain with specialized cells that could put the brakes on those pesky uncontrolled muscle movements.
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Heart health
Stem cells aren't just skin deep; they've got heart too! Within just two weeks of injecting those stem cells, brand new blood vessels popped up, looking just as snazzy as the natural ones.
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The vivid world of stem cells
After understanding what are stem cells? You need to understand the vivid world of stem cells. Stem cells come in different flavors based on where they come from like embryos, fetuses, or adults; and the types of tissues they're hanging out in, whether it's blood, neural tissue, skin, and so on.
Then there's this fancy term biologists like to use called "potency." It's all about how good a stem cell is at making different types of cells. If a stem cell can whip up a whole bunch of them, we call it "pluripotent." Embryonic stem (ES) cells are the bosses of pluripotency.
Adult stem cells are like the Avengers of the cell world; they multiply by cell division to swoop in and save the day by regenerating damaged tissues. For instance, doctors have worked their magic using stem cells from under the skin's surface to whip up brand-spanking-new skin tissue.
By figuring out what makes a stem cell decide whether to keep on multiplying or switch gears and become a specialized cell, scientists from Regenamex are cracking the code of normal development. Now scientist have a better shot at understanding nasty diseases like cancer and genetic birth defects and kicking them to the curb for good.
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