What Are Three Important Uses for Stem Cells?

A stem cell is a cell that has not differentiated yet, meaning that it has not become a specialized cell with a limited, but important, function in the body. Because stem cells have not matured, so to speak, they can divide rapidly and scientists can induce them to differentiate into any type of cell desired. Embryonic stem cells can become almost any type of cell, while adult stem cells can only differentiate into a few types.

Cell and Tissue Therapy

• Donated organs and tissues usually come at a hefty price: another person's life, and a lifelong battle against organ rejection. Researchers are studying whether stem cells may one day function as a renewable source of tissue. These are called cell- and tissue-based therapies. Today, several such therapies are routine, including a leukemia-treating bone marrow transplant in which doctors use chemotherapy and radiation to kill the patient's existing bone marrow and abnormal leukocytes, and then introduce stem cells from a healthy bone marrow donor.

Drug Testing

• Drug testing on stem cells would significantly reduce animal experimentation. And since stem cells are human cells, it would also increase the likelihood that the drugs would be effective and safe for humans. Researchers currently test certain drugs, including cancer treatments, on disease-specific stem cells to determine whether they're safe for public use. Researchers hope to use stem cells with a variety of differentiation potentials --- those that can create all types of cells found in the body --- in the future. This type of stem cell would allow scientists to test a larger variety of cell types.

Life Cycle of Diseases

• Since stem cells are the precursors to all other cells in the body, scientists hope to use them to study the life cycles of diseases. The process through which stem cells differentiate may illustrate how other cells proliferate and become specialized, providing necessary information about the controls in place to prevent abnormal cell division. If scientists know how the controls work, they may be able to introduce or repair them in areas of abnormal growth or differentiation.

Legal Status

• A limited amount of stem cell research is legal in the United States. On August 9, 2001, George H. W. Bush announced that scientists could use federal funds to conduct research on 60 to 70 existing stem cell lines that fit certain restrictions. California and New Jersey have passed legislation that makes additional funding available for stem cell research. There are no restrictions on the use of stem cells retrieved from adult donors.