Stem Cells

You the human body contains organs such as bones the brain heart and reproductive organs the basic cells that give rise to all of the different cells in these organs are called stem cells one type of stem cell is an egg cell from a woman

That has been fertilized by a sperm from a man this single cell called a zygote is the first cell in a developing human being it's also called a totipotent stem cell because it can form any type of cell in

The body as well as the umbilical cord and placenta after a zygote has divided a few times it becomes an early stage embryo called a blastocyst embryonic stem cells come from the cells inside the blastocyst

Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent this means they can form any cell in the body but not the cells in the umbilical cord or placenta in the lab embryonic stem cells are donated from leftover embryos created

During in-vitro fertilization in vitro fertilization is a procedure to help a woman become pregnant another type of stem cell is an adult stem cell small groups of these cells are found in some organs such as the

Skin after birth and into adulthood adult stem cells are multiple n't this means they can only become a few different cell types related to the organ where they're found for example the skin contains a small number of

Adult stem cells that can divide to create new skin adult stem cells or they can become more specialized skin cells to replace those that are lost due to cell aging or damaged in the lab scientists can now induce or

Cause a regular body cell such as a skin cell to change into a pluripotent stem cell like embryonic stem cells these induced pluripotent stem cells can become any type of cell in the body scientists study stem cells to learn how

And why they become many different types of cells in the future these cells may be used to regrow tissues and organs that have been damaged by injury or disease stem-cell therapy is a procedure that

Uses stem cells to treat a disease or condition currently stem cell therapy only treats diseases and cancers of the blood in leukemia for example the patient's bone marrow makes many abnormal white blood cells that can't do

Their job to fight infection over time these abnormal cells crowd out the production of healthy white blood cells in stem cell therapy for leukemia called hematopoietic stem cell transplantation a doctor will take a

Sample of blood or bone marrow from the patient or a donor in some cases donor blood may come from a baby's umbilical cord after it's born these tissue samples contain healthy Hamato poetic or blood-forming stem cells then doctors

Will give the patient chemotherapy drugs or use radiation to kill the abnormal white blood cells and their stem cells once the abnormal cells are gone the doctor will transplant the healthy hematopoietic stem cells from the tissue

Samples into the patient these healthy stem cells will make new blood cells including normal white blood cells which will allow the body to fight off infections