What are stem cells?
Stem cells could be described as cells which have not yet chosen a "career path"; and have the potential to become many different types of cell. There are several types of stem cells, some found in the bone marrow are already committed to the "career path" of immune cells but have not differentiated into specific types of immune cell. Others have the potential to become almost any cell in the body (such as cells in early embryonic tissue).Some stem cells have already been used in medicine for many years. Bone marrow transplants are a long-standing and safe treatment for children with leukaemias and deficient immune systems. They work by seeding the body of the recipient with stem cells which multiply and become the immune cells that the child needs to fight infectious disease.