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Stem cells have the potential to regenerate tissue, heal wounds, and cure disease.

Stem cells are important in natural development and occur as two types: embryonic and adult. In general, stem cells have the potential of becoming any cell in the human body. Embryonic stem cells are present after fertilization and the first cellular divisions begin to produce an organism as the embryo transitions through 4- and 8-cell blastocyst stages. These few cells eventually become every tissue and structure in the body through cell division and differentiation, called pluripotency. There are also stem cells in these differentiated tissues, the adult stem cells, which may or may not have this same capacity. Because these types of stem cells occur in differentiated tissue, there is some question as to whether they still hold pluripotent capacity, though the research into this has been ongoing. Adult stem cells do potentially have the capacity to regenerate or heal the particular tissue of which they are a component.

The main research question being addressed in today's laboratories is the potential of stem cells to cure disease. Non-diseased cells being able to regenerate or alter diseased tissue leading to Parkinson's, heart disease, paralysis, and neurological disorders would be a boon to these fields where little therapy is available to patients due to the non-regenerative properties, and seeming absence, of adult stem cells, in the affected tissues. The main question lies in discerning the signals that make stem cells become a particular type of cell. It is not for certain that such signals exist in both embryonic and adult stem cells. What is currently done to adult stem cells is referred to as induced pluripotency. One problem with pluripotent cells is that they have the capacity to form tumors. Inducing a cell without knowledge of the particular signals, or placing an induced cell in a cellular environment conducive to undirected division, may result in tumor formation, an unwanted byproduct. A major test for stem cells before they can be applied clinically is to determine their potential for such unattractive side effects.

Stem cells could also be used to regenerate tissues in the laboratory for transplants and grafts. In this case, adult stem cells may be important for their capacity to become the organ or tissue of origin. However, as mentioned, stem cells have not been found in all tissues. Studies were done by a group in New York about five years ago that showed a potential for the injection of stem cells into the heart to correct scarring from heart attacks. However, there was much debate over the methodology used to carry out the trials, and whether the injection induced cardiac stem cells to take action or if the injected stem cells were the reason for healing.

There is also a lot of debate over what constitutes what kind of stem cells and how to properly isolate and maintain the populations. In the United States, federal funding has been shifted more than once as to whether it could be used for particular stem cell research, including a ban for several years under President George W. Bush that allowed federally funded work to be done only with certain pre-designated lines of embryonic stem cells. A setback as many of those lines have since been found to be unusable. The current federal restrictions allow broader research.

Learn more about this author, Alicia M Prater PhD.
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