Stem Cells

Stem cells are cells in your body that can become different cell types, like blood, bone and muscle cells. They occasionally make copies of themselves, which is why you don’t run out of stem cells during your lifetime. They’re the only cells that can do this. Stem cells also help some tissues in your body to fix themselves.

Healthcare providers may use stem cells as therapy to treat some diseases. Researchers study these cells to find new ways to treat disease. Stem cells can come from embryos, but you also have them in different tissues in your body.

Stem cell types

There are three main types of stem cells. Two are in your body, and medical researchers make a third type. They include:

• Embryonic (pluripotent) stem cells: These are the cells created by a sperm and an egg. They then go on to build your whole body. They can become any type of cell. Embryonic stem cells make more than 200 different cell types.
• Adult stem cells: These cells replace and repair damaged cells in tissues. Two examples are hematopoietic stem cells in bone marrow, and mesenchymal cells in different tissues. Hematopoietic stem cells maintain your blood cells and your immune system. Mesenchymal stem cells take care of bone, cartilage, muscle and fat.
• Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs): These are lab-made stem cells. Researchers take donated adult stem cells and change them, so they act like embryonic stem cells. iPSCs can turn into many different cell types.

What do stem cells do?

Stem cells form the building blocks of your body. Just as important, medical researchers study stem cells to:

• Understand how diseases happen: Researchers grow stem cells and watch how the cells change as they grow. The changes may show how some diseases develop in specific tissues and organs.
• Find new treatments: They study cells that fix or replace specific cell types and tissues, like blood cells or bone cells. This research may lead to new ways to treat disease.
• Test new treatments: Researchers use specially prepared stem cells to confirm new treatments work and are safe to use.

Where do stem cells for research come from?

Researchers may get these cells from:

• Donated tissue that contains adult stem cells
• Donated umbilical cord blood that has hematopoietic stem cells
• Donated embryos made during in vitro fertilization
• Lab-made embryos (iPSCs)

How do healthcare providers use stem cell therapy?

Stem cell therapy may be a treatment for:

• Blood cancer: Stem cell transplants may be treatment for leukemia, multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
• Blood disorders: Transplants are treatment options for some forms of anemia.
• Broken bones: Providers may treat broken bones with bone grafts that combine donated mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and other materials. These are specialized stem cells that can repair damage in your bones, muscles, tissue and fat.

Researchers are investigating whether (MSC) can treat osteoarthritis.

Conditions that affect stem cells

Many conditions may damage different stem cells in your body. For example, hematopoietic stem cells develop in your bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside your bones. Conditions or diseases that affect your bone marrow can damage those cells. Examples include:

• Aplastic anemia
• Leukemia
• Multiple myeloma
• Myeloproliferative disorders

Can I increase my number of stem cells naturally?

Researchers are studying whether taking certain vitamins helps your body make more stem cells. They aren’t sure if taking vitamins makes a difference.