It also means that cells which are a close genetic match to the patient can be selected. This drastically increases the supply of cells and tissues available for transplant into patients. Healthy cells can also be taken from donors or even from the patient themselves and used to produce ‘replacement’ cells to be transplanted back into the patient. This can allow scientists to learn more about the disease by studying the patient’s cells in the lab. iPS cells from patients can then be differentiated into specialised cells, for example, iPS cells from a patient with Alzheimer’s disease could be turned into nerve cells. It is now possible to make stem cells from patients with severe degenerative diseases. IPS cells could offer significant advantages over embryonic stem cells. This video will tell you more about iPS cells and Professor Yamanaka’s work. Professor Yamanaka subsequently shared the 2012 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work on iPS cells. It has revolutionised the fields of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. The technology for making iPS cells was developed by Professor Shinya Yamanaka’s research group and was announced to the scientific community in 2006. In this state they can also produce any cell type found in the body, like embryonic stem cells. Adding four additional factors into the cells allows them to go back to a similar state as embryonic stem cells. Induced pluripotent stem cells – Induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, are another type of stem cell that can be made in the lab from normal adult cells, such as skin cells. However, there are ethical issues surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells as their production results in the destruction of an embryo. The cells can be grown indefinitely and used to make all kinds of different cells for both scientific research and, potentially, to replace dying cells in patients with diseases like Parkinson’s. The cells in the inner cell mass are the ones to develop into the actual organism which will eventually be born.Įmbryonic stem cells are produced when the inner cell mass is removed from a blastocyst and grown in the lab. Blastocysts have two main parts the trophectoderm, shown in red in this image, which surrounds the blastocyst and goes on to form the placenta, and the inner cell mass, shown in green, which is found inside the blastocyst. Embryos which are a few days old, known as blastocysts, are used to make ES cells in the lab. Copyright Maria Elena Torres PadillaĮmbryonic stem cells – Embryonic stem cells are considered to be more powerful than adult stem cells as they can make any type of cell found in the body. The trophectoderm is highlighted in red, while the inner cell mass is highlighted in green. These cells are also known as adult stem cells, but are also found in children and foetuses.Ī 3.5 day old mouse blastocyst. For example, intestinal stem cells can produce the different types of cell found in the intestine, but not other cells in other organs like nerve cells. They can usually only make a limited number of different cell types which are specific to the organ or tissue that they are found in. Tissue stem cells – These are cells which are found in your body and provide new cells to your organs. There are many different kinds of stem cells but some of the most important ones are Stem cells provide new specialised cells to replace dying ones. Most of these cells can live for anything from a few days to a few years before they die and need to be replaced. Our bodies are made up of trillions of cells. This EuroStemCell video gives you a short introduction to the world of stem cells and stem cell research. Stem cells can also self-renew, which means that they can replace themselves so that your supply of stem cells doesn’t run out. This process of becoming more specialised is called differentiation. Firstly, they can divide to produce a more specialised cell which is needed in the body, such as a muscle cell or a red blood cell. Are there different kinds of stem cells?Ī stem cell is a type of cell which is able to do two things.For lots more information and resources about stem cells and regenerative medicine, including information about using stem cells in the clinic and clinical trials of stem cell therapies, visit the EuroStemCell website.
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