Stem cells differ from the other kinds of cells in the body. There are basically three unique properties of the stem cells which are really very important. They have the capability of dividing and renewing for a long period of times. They are unspecialized and the third one is that they can give rise to the formation of the specialized cells.

Scientists are really trying very hard to understand the two fundamental properties of the stem cells which are really related to the self renewal properties of the stem cells.  The two fundamental properties are as follows:

  1. The first point is that how can the embryonic cells proliferate for so long and this also without differentiating where as the adult stem cells cannot.
  2. The second point is of the fact that how the stem cells can proliferate for so long and renews itself without differentiating.

While trying to answer these questions the scientists may find the way to understand how the cell proliferation takes place during the embryonic development abnormal cell division that leads to the cancer. In fact all these studies will help the scientists grow the embryonic cells and the adult cell better in the laboratory.

I would like to explain the two plus points of the stem cells in detail. The details with the description are as below:

1. Stem cells are unspecialized and can develop specialized cells
One of the fundamental properties of a stem cell is that it does not have any tissue-specific structures that allow it to perform specialized functions. A stem cell cannot work with its neighbors to pump blood through the body (like a heart muscle cell); it cannot carry molecules of oxygen through the bloodstream (like a red blood cell); and it cannot fire electrochemical signals to other cells that allow the body to move or speak (like a nerve cell). However, unspecialized stem cells can give rise to specialized cells, including heart muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells.

2. Stem cells can divide and renew itself on it own
Unlike muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells-which do not normally replicate themselves-stem cells may replicate many times. When cells replicate themselves many times over it is called proliferation. A starting population of stem cells that proliferates for many months in the laboratory can yield millions of cells. If the resulting cells continue to be unspecialized, like the parent stem cells, the cells are said to be capable of long-term self-renewal.

I really feel that these are some points which just reveal one point and that is the research on the stem cells can come out to be a major milestone in the field of medicine. We all know that the bio technology has really been a milestone in the field of medicinal world. And the research topics can really be more than a milestone.