Adult Stem Cells and Embryonic Stem Cells – The Difference
Adult Stem Cells
Adult stem cells can continue to self-renew or divide, indefinitely. This enables them to produce a variety of cell types: However, although there is some evidence that suggests adult stem cells can become other types of cells, for the most part, it is believed that an adult stem cell is limited in its ability to differentiate and can only change based on the cell’s tissue of …show more content…
Once fertilized, they remain in the petri dish and in an incubator. After several days, the embryologist grades the embryos to determine which embryos appear healthy and would provide the patient with the best chance for a viable pregnancy that may lead to a live birth.
Limits Related to Embryo Transfer
To reduce the likelihood of a multiples pregnancy there are limits placed on the number of embryos a physician transfers into a patient’s uterus. Generally, the age of the female dictates the number of embryos transferred. Any embryos that remain following transfer are either frozen for later use or, with permission from the couple, used for stem cell research.
A couple may choose to donate the embryos for stem cell research because:
their family is complete; or they realize that the IVF success rate with frozen embryos is not as high as with fresh embryos; therefore, they decide not to store the remaining embryos.
Three General Properties of Stem Cells
Three properties common to all stem cells include:
Stem cells can divide and renew themselves through cell division for an extended period of time (sometimes, even after a long periods of inactivity). A stem cell is an unspecialized cell, in other words, a blank