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Stem Cell |
Stem cells are unique in a sense they are capable of developing and can give rise to almost all of the cells types of the body, such as muscle, nerve, heart, blood. Thus they hold great promise for both research and health care. |
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While every cell has genetic information, the egg cell derived from a female after fertilization with a sperm is capable of developing into an entire human being. When the fertilized egg cell divides the first few cells are capable of growing into any part of the body. There are 220 different cell types found in the body of human beings. It is the biochemical signals that decide whether the stem cells are destined to become heart, brain or kidney. These 'specialized' cells with age and further multiplication loose this ability. Thus if captured at an early stage they can be manipulated in various ways to grow and form different types of tissues. A medical revolution can be created by manipulating the genes at this stage to correct diseases. This research was conducted on early-stage embryos donated voluntarily by couples undergoing fertility treatment in an in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinic or from non-living fetuses obtained from terminated first trimester pregnancies. |
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