What is Stem Cell Research?
Stem cell research is research being done on undifferentiated cells known as stem cells.

What are Stem Cells?
Stem cells are undifferentiated, or unchanged, cells that are found in the primary stage of fetal development (ES) or in adult tissues (AS).

What are Embryonic Stem (ES) Cells?
Embryonic stem cells are stem cells that are taken from an embryo. These stem cells have the potential to form any specialized cell in the human body.

What are Adult Stem (AS) Cells?
Adult stem cells are stem cells taken from a specialized tissue. These stem cells are limited to multiplying into the tissue they are taken from.

Why use Adult Stem Cells?
Adult stem cells are generally used to regenerate or repair damaged tissues.

What are some types of Stem Cells?
There are three different categories that stem cells fall into: totipotent, pluripotent, and specific. These three are all forms of embryonic stem cells.

What are Totipotent Stem Cells?
Totipotent stem cells (totipotent meaning totally potent) have the capability to make any cell or tissue in the human body.

What are Pluripotent Stem Cells?
Pluripotent stem cells (pluripotent meaning more potent) have the capability to make any of the following three major tissue types: endoderm (interior gut lining), mesoderm (muscle, bone, blood), and ectoderm (epidermal tissues and nervous system).

What are Specific Stem Cells?
Specific stem cells are only capable of making blood, muscle, nerve, bone, or other tissues.

Why is Stem Cell Research so important?
Stem cell research is very important for many reasons. They have the capability to make any tissue or cell in the body therefore they can regenerate damaged organs such as lungs, hearts, etc. Also, stem cell research is important in the search for the cure for many diseases such as Parkinson’s Disease (PD). With the use of stem cells, dopamine-producing neurons can be repaired to increase a patient’s mobility.

When was the concept of Stem Cells first thought of?
Over twenty years ago, scientists discovered ways to obtain stem cells from mouse embryos.

When were the first successful Human Stem Cells obtained?
In 1998, scientists successfully isolated and grew stem cells from human embryos in the laboratory.

Why are Stem Cells important for living organisms?
Stem cells are important for living organisms because they are what regenerate damaged tissues that are due to natural “wear and tear.”

What properties do all Stem Cells share?
All stem cells share three properties: 1) They are capable of diving and renewing themselves for long periods of time, 2) they are unspecialized, 3) and they are capable of creating specialized cells.

Can Stem Cells do the functions of all the cells and tissues in the body?
No. Even though stem cells are capable of creating all the cells and tissues in the body, they themselves are not capable of doing those functions.

What is plasticity?
Plasticity is a characteristic of some adult stem cells. It means that stem cells from one tissue can give rise to cells from a different tissue, when implemented into the new tissue.

Where are Embryonic Stem Cells taken from?
Embryonic stem cells are taken from, as the name says, embryos. These embryos are typically four or five days old and are a hollow, microscopic ball of cells known as the blastocyst.
    *These embryos are developed from in vitro fertilization and are donated with the consent of the donors.