Video Description
Embryonic stem cells making, culturing
and usage.
Stem Cell
Stem cells are cells found in most, if not all, multi-cellular organisms. They are characterized by the ability to renew themselves through mitotic cell division and differentiating into a diverse range of specialized cell types. Research in the stem cell field grew out of findings by Canadian scientists Ernest A. McCulloch and James E. Till in the 1960s. The two broad types of mammalian stem cells are: embryonic stem cells that are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts, and adult stem cells that are found in adult tissues. In a developing embryo, stem cells can differentiate into all of the specialized embryonic tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing specialized cells, but also maintain the normal turnover of regenerative organs, such as blood, skin, or intestinal tissues.
Stem cells can now be grown and transformed into specialized cells with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues such as muscles or nerves through cell culture. Highly plastic adult stem cells from a variety of sources, including umbilical cord blood and bone marrow, are routinely used in medical therapies. Embryonic cell lines and autologous embryonic stem cells generated through therapeutic cloning have also been proposed as promising candidates for future therapies.
Source:
Wikipedia, Stem Cell.
Chemists influence stem-cell development with geometry
March 18, 2010.
Source:
University of Chicago News.
University of Chicago scientists have successfully used geometrically patterned surfaces to influence the development of stem cells. The new approach is a departure from that of many stem-cell biologists, who focus instead on uncovering the role of proteins in controlling the fate of stem cells.
"The cells are seeing the same soluble proteins. In both cases it's the shape alone that's dictating whether they turn into fat or bone, and that hasn't been appreciated before," said Milan Mrksich, Professor in Chemistry and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, who led the study. "That's exciting because stem-cell therapies are of enormous interest right now, and a significant effort is ongoing to identify the laboratory conditions that can take a stem cell and push it into a specific lineage."
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