Stem Cells

Biology and Technology in the Real World

Stem Cells

Stem cells are truly unique cells. Unlike regular, or somatic, cells—regulated to function as a specific cell—stem cells have the exceptional ability to change from being unformatted to many different types of cells, performing its respective function. This state of being unformatted is referred as undifferentiated. These undifferentiated cells also have the distinctive ability of dividing without restriction as long as the organism in which it resides is living (Stem Cell Basics, 2015). And within these periods of division, no matter how long they last, stem cells still maintain their unformatted or undifferentiated characteristic.

There are two major types of stem cells that are primarily studied, embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. The embryonic, from an embryo not yet embedded into the wall of the uterus of its host, and the adult, originating in the tissues of its host. It is these same embryonic stem cells that provide the complete body of its organism—producing the many different types of organs (Stem Cell Basics, 2015). The adult stem cells, while undifferentiated, is usually limited to differentiating to the type of cells present in the organ in which it is found. Although there is much to be learned of these cells, it is known that adult stem cells serve to repair the body/adult tissues. They reside in the body until they are “activated by a normal need for more cells to maintain tissues, or by disease or tissue injury” (Stem Cell Basics, 2015). While both of these types of stem cells are absolutely helpful in producing healthy cells to exchange the unhealthy cells due to disease or injury—regenerative medicine, they do present differences that allow different levels of effectiveness. Stem cells, being pluripotent have the ability to become any of the various cell types of the body with the exception of extra-embryonic tissues. This quality makes them more effecting than the adult stem cells...