Stem cells are primal cells found in all multi-cellular organisms. Stem cells retain their ability to renew themselves through mitotic cell division and can differentiate into a diverse range of specialized cell types.
Self-renewal - the ability to go through numerous cycles of cell division while maintaining the undifferentiated state.
Potency - the capacity to differentiate into specialized cell types. In the strictest sense, this requires stem cells to be either totipotent or pluripotent - to be able to give rise to any mature cell type, although multipotent or unipotent progenitor cells are sometimes referred to as stem cells.
Embryonic stem cells thought by most scientists and researchers to hold potential cures for spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, hundreds of rare immune system and genetic disorders and much moreis why stem cell research is so important to some.
