The medical group is buzzing with the interest generated by the concept of stem cells. Also known as living cell, a stem cell forms the important base which is required by every organ, tissue and cell in the body. These living cells are unspecialized cells that have two defining properties in them which make them unique and different from all other types of cells. These two mentioned properties are their ability to differentiate into other cells and their ability to self-regenerate.
These Living Cell have in them the inherent property of dividing and renewing themselves for long durations of time. Unlike the case of other types of cells like muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells which do not normally replicate themselves, it is seen that living cells can replicate many times. This property of replicating several times allows for their use in stem cell therapy applications. Living cells can also give rise to specialized cells. This vital property forms the basis of all living cell therapy uses. While differentiating, the cell ideally goes through several stages, becoming more specialized at each step.
Within the class of living cells too there are differentiated different types of stem cells. These include embryonic stem cells that exist only at the earliest stages of embryonic development; as embryonic stem cells can form all cell types of the body as a result of which they are referred to as pluripotent living cells. These living cells are restrictive to the type of cells they can further generate and generally can only form a limited number of cell types corresponding with their tissues of origin; they are referred to as multipotent living cells.
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