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WHAT STEM CELLS ARE

 

Stem cells are non-specialised cells (and thus do not yet have a well-defined function) capable of potentially developing endlessly into tissue cells: once they become specialised, they lose this capacity that they have.

They are divided into:

  • totipotent that can be differentiated into any type of tissue 
  • pluripotent that are converted only into some types of tissue
  • unipotent that can give rise to a single specific tissue.

The basic stem cell is the fertilised egg capable of becoming any cell of the body, and is a totipotent cell with total potential.

 

With cell division, this gives rise to more cells, all totipotent.

 

After several divisions, the totipotent cells begin to differentiate, becoming pluripotent, that is to say intended for creating only some types of tissues.

  

stem cells

Stem cells  

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