What are Stem Cells ?
There are
two kind of stem cells used in biomedical research:
- embryonic
stem cells - which occur only in early development;
- adult
stem cells - occurring in adult organisms;
- In
the developing fetus, stem cells in developing tissue give rise to the multiple
specialized cells types that make the human body.
- In
some adult tissues, such as bone marrow, muscle and brain, discrete populations
of adult stem cells generate replacement cells.
- While
both types of stem cells are very important for biomedical research, the use
of embryonic stem cells raises most of the bioethical issues.
Mugur Roz