Stem Cells - Fundamentals

A stem cell is a unique cell that can give rise to any specific specialized cell, such as a blood cell depending on the area of the body. They have the ability to divide for indefinite periods in culture and have a unique property to differentiate into any type of body cell eg nerve cell, bladder cell or muscle cell 

This unique quality of the stem cells makes them ideal for treating injury and disease by repairing or replacing damaged or diseased body cells with healthy new cells. This type of inoculation of stem cells in the area to be treated is now called stem cell transplantation. 

Stem cells are used to treat degenerative diseases, which occur due to premature cell death or malfunctioning of specific cell type. Stem cells can be used to replace these dead cells.