From embryos: In the very early stages of development (usually from leftover embryos from fertility treatments), stem cells can be extracted. These are called embryonic stem cells and have the potential to turn into any cell type in the body.
From adult tissues: Adults have stem cells in certain parts of their bodies, like the bone marrow, fat tissue, and blood. These are called adult stem cells and can usually turn into a few specific cell types (not as flexible as embryonic ones).
From umbilical cord blood: After a baby is born, the blood from the umbilical cord and placenta is rich in stem cells. These cells are collected and can be stored for future medical use.
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs): Scientists can take regular cells from the body, like skin cells, and reprogram them in a lab to behave like stem cells. These lab-created stem cells can act like embryonic stem cells and turn into many different types of cells.
What exactly did you learn? If it’s that there are a number of different types of stem cells, then we really need to improve scientific communication to the average person. I learned this kind of thing because I’m interested, but I thought this was being taught to kids since they were an active area of research (something like 15-20 years?).
I asked chatGPT how stem cells are collected:
TIL
ChatGPT, a notoriously reliable source
Did you ask it how to keep cheese on pizza after that?
What exactly did you learn? If it’s that there are a number of different types of stem cells, then we really need to improve scientific communication to the average person. I learned this kind of thing because I’m interested, but I thought this was being taught to kids since they were an active area of research (something like 15-20 years?).