What are stem cells and what do they do?
Stem cells are manufactured in the brain, bone marrow, blood supply, blood vessels, skeletal muscles, skin and liver.
There are two types of stem cells: hematopoietic and stromal. Hematopoietic stem cells form in the bone marrow and only mature into blood cells. These are what are used for bone marrow transplants.
Stromal stem cells can form into many different types of stem cells including bone, cartilage, fat, or fibrous connective tissue.
Scientists have learned stem cells are can be generated from three areas of the brain. The three types include astrocytes, which support cells in the nervous system; oligodendrocytes, which supports cells that insulate nerves (myelin sheath) and last, neurons, which protect the cell body and its functions, which is transmitting nerve impulses and information from the brain to the body and back again to the brain.
This stem cell information is relatively new. Scientists learned about this in the 1990s and continue to study stem cells.
Areas of future study in stem cell research include how stem cells in adults differentiate and how they might be used to treat Parkinson’s disease and type 2 diabetes.