Stem cells are the body's natural reserve, giving supplies to specialized cells depleted or damaged. We all have stem cells that work within us. Right now, inside your bone marrow, stem cells work to produce 100,000 million new blood cells needed a day!
We need to generate new cells constantly just to keep our body functioning. Some specialized cells, such as blood and muscle, are unable to make copies of themselves through cell division. Instead, its supply comes from stem cell populations.
Stem cells have the unique ability to produce both copies of themselves (self-renewal) and other more specialized cells (differentiation), each time they divide. Stem cells are therefore essential for the maintenance of tissues such as blood, skin and intestine, which are constantly renewed (cell replacement), and muscle, which may increase as the body's needs and often suffer damage during physical activity.
Stem cells are used in the following conditions:
- 1 and 2 diabetes
- Pulmonary fibrosis
- Asthma
- PD
- Lupus
- MS
- Hematologic diseases
- Myocardial infarction
- Autoimmune Diseases
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Psoriasis
- Pulmonary TB
- Immunocompromised patients
- Cancer
- Diseases of the nervous system
- Injuries of the spine and muscle damage
- Infarcts
- Paralysis
- Regenerative Medicine
- Immunotherapy
- Gene therapy
- COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
What are Stem Cells?
Stem cells are cells that have the potential to develop into some or many different cell types of the body, depending on whether multipotent or pluripotent. They serve as a sort of repair system, which can theoretically divide without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each daughter cell has the potential to remain a stem cell or being converted into another type of cell with a more specialized, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell or a brain cell function.
What types of stem cells exist?
Stem cells can be pluripotent or multipotent. Pluripotent can give rise to any cell type in the body, except those necessary to support and develop a fetus in the womb. Stem cells that can give rise to only a small number of different types of cells are called multipotent.
Where do stem cells?
There are several sources of stem cells. Pluripotent stem cells can be isolated from human embryos that are a few days old. Cells from these embryos can be used to create pluripotent stem cell cultures can be grown indefinitely in the laboratory. Pluripotent stem cells also develop from (older than 8 weeks of development) fetal tissue.
Why do scientists want to use stem cells?
Once establishing a stem cell from a cell in the body, is essentially immortal. That is, the researcher does not have to go through the rigorous process of isolating stem cells back. Once stem cell line is established, can be grown indefinitely in the laboratory and the cells may be frozen for storage or distribution to other researchers.
What is the best type of stem cell for use in therapies?
Pluripotent stem cells have great therapeutic potential with the help of formidable technical challenges. First, scientists must learn to control the development of all the different types of cells in the body. Second, the cells now available for research are likely to be rejected by the immune system of a patient. Another serious consideration is that the idea of using human embryonic stem cells many people dislike for ethical reasons.