There are over 200 different types of cells in a human body, each resulting from a zygote (the cell formed after fertilization of an egg by a sperm). Humans, animals, as well as plants, have one cell in common, the stem cell, which is their foundation for the development of tissues and organs in their systems. Among humans, this cell comes in two type's, i.e. embryonic stem cells which only exist during the early development stages and the adult (tissue-specific) stem cells which only appear during the fetal stages of development thus remaining within the human bodies throughout their lifetime. Some characteristics of stem cells include replication which makes them make copies or auto-renew themselves. Also, they are capable of differentiating thus developing to cells which are more specialized. Beyond the two characteristics, when it comes to their capabilities as well as behaviors stem cells may greatly defer from each other.
Stem cells are the unique and crucial cells present in the human body, most crucial when it comes to tissues and organs development. These (stem) cells are usually nonspecialized cells, as a result of this, they can create other different types of cells in precise like brain-, muscle-, tissue-, or blood-cells among others. As much as stem cells are more potent within the fetus when compared to an adult person, they live in all the human bodies. Stem cells types have their own different ability, for instance, some are capable of creating every single cell within the human body while others are capable of replacing or repairing the damaged cells or tissues in the human system. More so, unlike other human cells, stem cells are capable of proliferating themselves, this means that they are can continuously auto-renew themselves again and again (Witt, 2011). Another thing is that stem cells can repair worn or damaged cells or tissues, as for this reason, stem cells may be medically applied in transplants to aid the redevelopment of organs (Witt, 2011). The embryonic stem cells are considered as the most crucial and precious simply because of its capability to auto-renew themselves and the pluripotent qualities that it possesses.
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There are two main types of stem cells, i.e. embryonic stem cells which only exist during the early development stages and the adult (tissue-specific) stem cells which only appear during the fetal stages of development thus remaining within the human bodies throughout their lifetime. The embryonic stem cells fall under the pluripotent stem cells, which are capable of becoming any cell in the body. The adult (tissue-specific) stem cells fall under the tissue stem cells which are usually multipotent. The embryonic stem cells are usually derived from the human blastocysts (early development stages of an embryo), which is about a week old. These stem cells are not restricted and are therefore capable of making any type of cell in the human body. The advantages of these cells are that they can be developed in large amounts in a laboratory facility. Also, they can be manipulated so that they grow into distinct types of cells in a laboratory. The disadvantage is that as a result of its nature it has (pluripotent), they risky since they carry life-threatening conditions such as cancer if treatment is not administered properly before transferring to the recipient. When it comes to the adult (tissue-specific) stem cells, they are derived from the undifferentiated cells which are found in organs and tissues. Its advantages include limited self-renewal capability, and tissue rejections are very rare when derived from patients among others. Some disadvantages may include difficult to grow in large numbers when outside the body, they limit the generation of cells to the ones that they are found in, and they are difficult to locate since only a small number is found within the tissues and abundant of it is in the bone marrow and the cord blood. When compared to the embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells are usually versatile and less flexible. The embryonic stem cells have a higher potential f differentiation compared to the adult stem cells, simply because embryonic stem cells do not limit themselves to certain cells and can develop to every single type of cell in the body (Murnaghan, 2017).
Stem cells have the characteristic of auto-renewing themselves and repairing or replacing worn out tissues or organs and ability to be any cell of the human body. As for this property, stem cells can greatly aid in the repairing of the spinal cord in case of an injury. Treating a spinal cord injury may require stem cell transplantation which may support its repair. In case of a spinal cord injury, stem cells may be directed on a patient so as it can differentiate into glia in vitro or neurons which can then be applied to replace the lost neural cells resulting from the injury (Tewarie et al., 2009).
Stem cells have great characteristics including replication which makes them make copies or auto-renewing themselves. As for this reason, stem cells remain unique in the human system since it ensures that there is continuous functioning of the cells when damaged or worn out they are immediately replaced or repaired. More so, stem cell properties have helped a great deal in the repairing of spinal cord injuries and expected to even play a more major role to play in the future of repairing of spinal cord injuries. Despite little being known about stem cells, it is clear that medical advancements have already taken the lions share regarding the stems cells benefits.
Reference
Tewarie, R. S. N., Hurtado, A., Bartels, R. H., Grotenhuis, A., & Oudega, M. (2009). Stem Cell–Based Therapies for Spinal Cord Injury. The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine , 32(2), 105–114.
Witt, M. (2011, November 3). Stem cell research: the basics types of research, medical status, and ethical drawbacks. Living Strong . Retrieved from https://liveaction.org/news/stem-cell-research-the-basics-types-of-research-medical-status-and-ethical-drawbacks/
Murnaghan, I. (2017, May 30). Adult vs. Embryonic Stem Cells . Retrieved from http://www.explorestemcells.co.uk/adultvsembryonicstemcells.html
