Published on 04/25/2005

Page 1

Stem cells are your body's basic building blocks. Certain qualities make them unique from other cells in your body. Stem cells are:

Undifferentiated. As undifferentiated cells, stem cells don't have a particular function —
the way cells in your arm muscles that help you lift a package or cells
in your blood that carry oxygen do. Instead, stem cells are like
neutral observers waiting to be pressed into duty. Although they're
undifferentiated, they can turn into specialized cells. Imagine that
you're repairing a home and you have a substance that you can transform
into any material you need throughout the house — from carpet to paint
to shingles. This unique substance could be used to fix many different
problems. Stem cells may be useful in repairing various parts of your
body in this way.

Self-replicating.
Unlike other cells in your body, which don't typically produce copies
of themselves (replicate), stem cells can divide and replicate over and
over again. In the laboratory, stem cells can replicate over long spans
of time without becoming specialized. Researchers can grow such
unspecialized cells in a laboratory dish, then separate groups of them
away and start new batches of dividing cells until they have millions
of cells. This allows scientists to produce plenty of unspecialized
cells for study — and possibly for future use in medical treatment

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