What are the differences between adult and embryonic stem cells?
Embryonic stem cells can be induced to differentiate into any cell type, but adult stem cells cannot. Most adult cells can only differentiate into the types of cells found in their environment or in the particular tissue or organ where they reside. Another key difference between embryonic and adult stem cells is the volume of cells that can be isolated and grown in vitro (in the lab). Large numbers of embryonic stem cells can be grown in vitro from a single blastocyst. By contrast, adult stem cells are rare, and methods of growing them still need to be perfected. Furthermore, due to their limited numbers, it is difficult to isolate a group of adult stem cells in pure form without having them contaminated with differentiated cells.
