How do stem cells become other cells

Learn More Related Issues Specifics. See, Play and Learn Videos and Tutorials. Resources Find an Expert. Stem cells are different from other cells in the body in three ways: They can divide and renew themselves over a long time They are unspecialized, so they cannot do specific functions in the body They have the potential to become specialized cells, such as muscle cells, blood cells, and brain cells Doctors and scientists are excited about stem cells because they could help in many different areas of health and medical research.

Start Here. Related Issues. American Cancer Society Also in Spanish. Videos and Tutorials. This can range from muscle cells to brain cells. In some cases, they can also fix damaged tissues. Researchers believe that stem cell-based therapies may one day be used to treat serious illnesses such as paralysis and Alzheimer disease.

Embryonic stem cells. The embryonic stem cells used in research today come from unused embryos. These result from an in vitro fertilization procedure. They are donated to science. These embryonic stem cells are pluripotent. This means that they can turn into more than one type of cell. Adult stem cells. There are 2 types of adult stem cells. One type comes from fully developed tissues such as the brain, skin, and bone marrow. There are only small numbers of stem cells in these tissues.

They are more likely to generate only certain types of cells. For example, a stem cell that comes from the liver will only make more liver cells. Cells within the testes of mice seem capable of generating an array of different kinds of cells in laboratory dishes, including heart, brain and skin cells.

One company claims to have similar results from human biopsy specimens. International Society for Stem Cell Research. Overview from the US National Academies. Stem Cell Glossary from Nature Insight. Reprints and Permissions. Can stem cells from one tissue be grown into many other types of cells?. Nat Rep Stem Cells Download citation. Published : 14 June Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:. Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

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