Stem Cells: Research PaperWhat are stem cells?Stem cells are undifferentiated biological cells that can differentiate into specialized cells and divide through the process of mitosis to produce more stem cells. Mitosis is a type of cell division that results in two daughter cells each with the same number and type of chromosomes as the parent nucleus, typical of normal tissue growth. Stem cells are found in multicellular organisms (Crosta, 2008). Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during the early stages of life and growth. Furthermore, in many tissues they function as a kind of internal repair system, dividing virtually without limit to replenish other cells while the person or animal is still alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential to remain a stem cell or become another type of cell with a more specialized function. These would be things like a muscle cell or a brain cell. Stem cells are distinguished from other types of cells by two important characteristics. First of all, these are unspecialized cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division even after long periods of inactivity. Second, under certain experimental conditions, they can be induced to become organ-specific tissues or cells with special functions. Stem cells are extracted from adult tissue or a dividing zygote in a culture dish; this process is also called in vitro fertilization. Once removed, scientists place the cells in a controlled location that prevents them from differentiating further, but usually allows the cells to divide and replicate. Once the stem cells have been allowed to divide and spread in a controlled location, harvesting the healthy, dividing ones and...... middle of paper...... general procedure. Future use I think in the future they will be able to do much more with stem cells than they already can, perhaps testing new medical treatments including things like human liver cells. Stem cells can be used to produce many specialized liver cells that can be used to screen and test new drugs in place of cells derived from dead or donor tissue. Furthermore, stem cells are already used to treat extensive burns and to restore the blood systems of some patients suffering from cancers such as leukemia and numerous other blood diseases. Scientists hope that stem cells can be used to replace cells lost in many other devastating diseases for which there are currently no viable cures, for example: liver failure, Parkinson's disease, and diabetes (Garbutt, 2007). To conclude, this is what I think the future holds for stem cell research.