Where Do Stem Cells Come From?

Stem cells have been proclaimed the miracle cell that may make a medical difference in addressing and curing a variety of our diseases, disorders and conditions. While controversy abounds, and your position on the topic may depend upon your religious beliefs, the fact that stem cells could be viable medical answer still remains. So where do stem cells come from?

Stem cells are actually found throughout the body, in many different locations. They are found in the tissues of bone marrow, our brains, blood, skeletal muscle and even in the fat that is within our bodies. The answer to the question: Where do stem cells come from is quite surprising: they are also found in the umbilical cord of pre and newborn infants as well as the placenta. Stem cells are called the basic building blocks of the human body. They have the ability to be multi-functional, to change with the building need at the moment. In essence, they can be programmed to adjust for new, healthy cell creation to combat whatever disorder, disease or cell replacement is needed.

There are three major types of stem cells: adult stem cells, cord stem cells and embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells can be extracted from bone marrow and other bone tissues. The bone marrow stem cells are high quality; however, the process is painful and can result in damage to the marrow area or general bone area. They have also exhibited a limitation in the types of development and cannot often be reproduced in large enough quantities in a laboratory setting. Cord stem cells are also of excellent quality, but are more DNA specific. In other words, they are of good use for direct family members but may be rejected in those whose DNA is of a lesser match. The most successful stem cells are the embryonic cells. These are taken from a blyoplast. This is the first one hundred or so cells that are produced by a developing embryo. Most of the cell content contain stem cells and are easily engineered to adapt to the medical need of the moment.

Embryonic stem cells have had a limited amount of scientific study. This has been based on the controversy of the religious communities and the pressure placed on government officials for embryonic stem cell research. The preliminary research that has been done has shown an astounding array of success. Diseases, disorders and medical afflictions may be able to be addressed and reversed with the embryonic stem cells. The incredible flexibility of ability of these cells offer those that suffer from both life threatening as well as debilitating and crippling situations, to have a quality life. The embryonic stem cells offer other possibilities for those that need organ transplants, in a world with limited organ donors.

Since embryonic stem cells are extracted from the blyoplast, and the blyoplast only has about one hundred cells, the religious community continues to show concern regarding not only the removal of stem cells from an organism that they consider to be life, but also the direction that the medical community may go in embryonic development for the sole purpose of extracting stem cells.

Additional information will not be forthcoming, one way or the other, until additional research is established.

The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.