Cord Blood Stem Cells Information

Can any one throw light on various nomenclature on stem cells?

I am looking forward to stem cell based remedy for my sisters son suffering from Cerebral Palsy. The term Stem Cell some one call as "Autologous or self" some say Umbilical cord blood" and some say about the Embryo-stem cell. Which is best. The NCRM team in Chennai have done something phenomenal in spinal injury patient which they say "autologous", but www.emcell.com claims treatment using embryo stem cell...I also read about a stem cell transplant centre in Chennai and some work in AIIMS Delhi, India. One more news I read was about stem cells from nose (Olfactory stem cell) by a chinese scientist....I would like to have lots of explanations from you all... thanks in advance.

Public Comments

1. Types of stem cells. 1)Totipotent cells. In mammals, totipotent cells have the potential to become any type in the adult body; any cell of the extraembryonic membranes (e.g., placenta). The only totipotent cells are the fertilized egg and the first 4 or so cells produced by its cleavage (as shown by the ability of mammals to produce identical twins, triplets, etc.). 2)Pluripotent stem cells. These are true stem cells, with the potential to make any differentiated cell in the body (but probably not all those of the extraembryonic membranes, which are derived from the trophoblast). Three types of pluripotent stem cells have been found A)Embryonic Stem (ES) Cells. These can be isolated from the inner cell mass (ICM) of the blastocyst — the stage of embryonic development when implantation occurs. For humans, excess embryos produced during in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures are used. Harvesting ES cells from human blastocysts is controversial because it destroys the embryo, which could have been implanted to produce another baby (but often was simply going to be discarded). B)Embryonic Germ (EG) Cells. These can be isolated from the precursor to the gonads in aborted fetuses. C)Embryonic Carcinoma (EC) Cells. These can be isolated from teratocarcinomas, a tumor that occasionally occurs in a gonad of a fetus. Unlike the other two, they are usually aneuploid. All three of these types of pluripotent stem cells can only be isolated from embryonic or fetal tissue; can be grown in culture, but only with special methods to prevent them from differentiating. 3)Multipotent stem cells. These are true stem cells but can only differentiate into a limited number of types. For example, the bone marrow contains multipotent stem cells that give rise to all the cells of the blood but not to other types of cells. Multipotent stem cells are found in adult animals; perhaps most organs in the body (e.g., brain, liver) contain them where they can replace dead or damaged cells. These adult stem cells may also be the cells that — when one accumulates sufficient mutations — produce a clone of cancer cells.