What are some of the uses of stem cells?
Stem cells can be used to expand our knowledge about cell division, including the abnormal cell division associated with cancer. Stem cells also provide insight into how cells develop specialized functions or “differentiate.” For example, an embryonic stem cell might produce a blood stem cell, which in turn produces an immune cell, in a process called differentiation. They also help us understand early human development. Stem cells can be used by researchers to determine toxicity of new drugs in advance of human testing. In addition, stem cells could potentially be used in regenerative medicine to replace injured or damaged organs and tissues.
