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The Expanding Field of Stem Cell Research

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Stem cell research is one of the most widely expanding areas of scientific research being conducted all over the world today. In basic terms, stem cell research is the research of stem cells; however in actuality is much more complicated. A stem cell is a cell with the ability to develop into any of the cell types that make up the tissues and organs of the body. This makes these cells highly useful and provides limitless potential in the field of regenerative medicine.
There are two expansive lines of stem cell research, which involve multipotent stem cells and pluripotent stem cells. Multipotent stem cells are stem cells which can only specialise into cells of the same type of tissue, for example muscle stem cells can only become specialised muscle cells. This type of stem cell are known as adult stem cells and are found in the brain, blood, muscles, skin, bone marrow and other fully developed parts of the body. On the other hand, pluripotent stem cells can differentiate and specialise into any cell of the body. These are embryonic stem cells which are found in embryo’s that are five to seven days old, and umbilical cords. In 2006, Shinya Yamanaka, a scientist in Japan discovered that stem cells could also be generated from mature, fully specialised cells. These stem cells are known as induced pluripotent stem cells, and are reprogrammed so that they can mimic embryonic stem cells and become every type of cell.
There is much difficulty in the research of adult stem cells,

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