Stem Cell Biology

Ultimately, every cell in the human body can be traced back to a fertilized egg that came into existence from the union of ovum and sperm. But the body is made up of over 200 different types of cells, not just one.

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All of these cell types come from a pool of cells in the early embryo, called stem cells. Stem cells have the remarkable potentiality to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system.

Several stem cell therapies are routinely used to treat disease today. Some of them include Bone Marrow stem cells transplant, Peripheral blood stem cells transplant, Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplant.

In this new age of medical science, stem cell therapy can provide both help and hope to those patients suffering from diseases and conditions, which were not possible to treat before but treatable and to some extent even curable now. But, as it is a new advancement of medical science, people, who are not too familiar with it, try to use it for their own gain and benefit.

Authors: Sanjoy Kumar Chakraborty, Laila Anjuman Banu.

Source: Bangladesh Journal of Anatomy January 2011, Vol. 9 No. 1 pp 1-4

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bja.v9i1.8138

Link: http://www.banglajol.info/index.php/BJA/article/view/8138