Type of Stem Cells
Stem cells can self-renew to make more stem cells or differentiate to form specialized cell types such as muscle cells, skin cells, nerve cells and fat cells. When a stem cell divides, three different cell types are formed having unique characteristics.
- Embroyonic stem cell
- Tissue or Adult stem cell
- Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)
Embroyonic stem cells and adult stem cells have different abilities in the number and type of specialized cell types they can become. While embroyonic stem cells can become many different types of cells in the body because it is pluripotent, adult stem cells can differentiate to form different cell types of the tissue of their origin only.
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) are genetically reprogrammed to express genes and factors vital for sustaining the unique properties of embroyonic stem cells.