Whats the relationship between cloning and stem cells?
Scientists think that some day, embryonic stem cells will become the basis for what’s called regenerative medicine. The term “embryonic stem cells” refers to a type of cell that seems only to be found in very early embryos. Embryonic stem cells are a kind of “universal cell” that have the ability to become any kind of cell in the body. They form when the embryo is about five days old and is a clump of about 250 cells — still barely visible to the naked eye. At this point, the embryo is a hollow ball made of two types of cell arranged in two layers. Think coconut. The outside layer is made up of cells that will go on to form the placenta and other bits and pieces that anchor and nourish the embryo as it grows in the womb. The inside layer is the inner cell mass, and it’s these cells that are the embryonic stem cells. As an embryo develops, these stem cells give rise to all the specialized cells that make up the different tissues of the body. How a stem cell knows what to turn into is a
