A stem cell is a special kind of cell that has a unique capacity to renew itself and to give rise to specialized cell types. Although most cells of the body, such as heart cells or skin cells, are committed to conduct a specific function, a stem cell is uncommitted and remains uncommitted, until it receives a signal to develop into a specialized cell. Their proliferative capacity combined with the ability to become specialized makes stem cells unique. Researchers have for years looked for ways to use stem cells to replace cells and tissues that are damaged or diseased. embryos and fetal tissue, a flurry of new information was emerging about a class of stem cells that have been in clinical use for years-so-called adult stem cells. An adult stem cell is an undifferentiated cell that is found in a differentiated (specialized) tissue in the adult, such as blood. It can yield the specialized cell types of the tissue from which it originated. In the body, it too, can renew itself.

A stem cell is a special kind of cell that has a unique capacity to renew itself and to give rise to specialized cell types. Although most cells of the body, such as heart cells or skin cells, are committed to conduct a specific function, a stem cell is uncommitted and remains uncommitted, until it receives a signal to develop into a specialized cell. Their proliferative capacity combined with the ability to become specialized makes stem cells unique. Researchers have for years looked for ways to use stem cells to replace cells and tissues that are damaged or diseased. embryos and fetal tissue, a flurry of new information was emerging about a class of stem cells that have been in clinical use for years-so-called adult stem cells. An adult stem cell is an undifferentiated cell that is found in a differentiated (specialized) tissue in the adult, such as blood. It can yield the specialized cell types of the tissue from which it originated. In the body, it too, can renew itself.