Stem cells could hold the key to future treatments for debilitating diseases and injuries, but few of us are really sure exactly what they are. They're master cells that have the capacity to develop into virtually any part of the body. Scientists believe cells harvested from embryos offer the greatest potential, but they also raise the greatest ethical concerns. New research in London has highlighted the potential of stem cells to repair damage caused by strokes. Rebecca Barrett reports.
Stem cells have the potential to change medicine radically.
They could be invaluable in treating serious diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson's, or restore function to paraplegics. Martin Pera is an associate professor at the Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development at Monash University. A stem cell is a primitive cell that has two key capabilities. First of all it can divide to give rise to more stem cells, or it can give rise to more specialised cell types which carry out specific tasks in the tissues of the body. There are two types of stem cells, those taken from adults and those harvested from human embryos.