Find out how these hidden, primitive cells can become nearly any cell type in your body. Embryonic stem cells are a popular and controversial topic in the news media, but did you know that adult tissues can produce stem cells as well?

How are adult stem cells different from embryonic stem cells?

Embryonic stem cells are easier to grow in vitro (in a dish), which is part of the reason they have been used more in research. However, all studies showing benefit of stem cells in human patients have come from adult stem cells.

What are stem cells?

Stem cells are undifferentiated (baby) cells derived from various organs that can turn into different mature cell types.

They are important in growth and development, but also in regeneration and repair of damaged tissue.

Stem cells can come from embryos (large numbers) or from mature tissues (smaller numbers)<P>

Who identified stem cells?

Canadian scientists James Till and Ernest McCulloch established the existence of stem cells in a scientific manuscript published in 1963 in the journal Nature.

Experiments: They injected bone marrow into irradiated mice and noticed spleen nodules, each of which arose from a single injected bone marrow cell.

With Lou Siminovitch, Till and McCulloch found these individual cells were stem cells, capable of self-renewal.

Who isolated stem cell lines?

James Thomson’s lab at the University of Wisconsin was the first to isolate stem cell lines from a non-human primate (1995) and also from human embryos (Science, 1998).

Stem cell lines are stem cells grown in vitro (in a dish) that can be propagated indefinitely and used for experiments and, eventually, for treatment.<P>

Why are stem cells controversial?

Much current research on stem cells involves embryonic stem cells, which are derived from human embryos.

Adult stem cells, by contrast, can be obtained without destroying an embryo.

Why do we have stem cells throughout life?

A small number of stem cells is maintained throughout life for activation during times of stress, injury, and tissue damage.

When the need arises, stem cells are mobilized to divide and differentiate, replacing damaged tissue.

As we age, stem cells do not mobilize as effectively as they do in younger individuals.

Where are adult stem cells located?

Many stem cells reside in the bone marrow, where blood cells are continually produced.

Stem cells, by definition, are able to self-renew indefinitely

Stem cells can develop into many different cell types.<P>

Where can one get adult stem cells?

This answer is easy: we make them ourselves! But… how can we use these stem cells most effectively?

How are stem cells mobilized?

When tissue injury or damage occurs, signals are released from the damaged organ that circulate throughout the body.

When stem cells receive this signal, they are released into the blood stream and travel to the area of damage or injury.

What is the (molecular basis of this process? http://herbalnutrition-for-naturalhealth.com/stemenhance.html [- Rivka??]

Specific molecules on the surface of stem cells keep them in the bone marrow. One of these molecules is L-selectin, which interacts with an L-selectin ligand to release stem cells into the blood stream.

<a href="http://www.herbalnutrition-for-naturalhealth.com/support-files/stemenhancereport.pdf" target="_blank"> Free report on adult stem cells here.</a> [- Rivka??]

Search PubMed search for more information on adult stem cells.

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