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Virtual stem cell laboratory |
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Virtual Stem Cell Laboratory |
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The human body is made up of hundreds of different types of specialized cells, ranging from neurons that capture our thoughts to bone and muscle cells that let us run and jump. With all these cell types, and the potential for things to go wrong with each, it's no wonder that researchers are excited about studying embryonic stem cells, which have the potential to become any type of specialized cell. Embryonic stem cell research, we believe, will lead to extraordinary advancements in medicine, including personalized cell-based therapies to treat disease and advanced understanding of birth defects and other congenital diseases.
One of the challenges in stem cell research is getting the cells to differentiate into specific kinds of cells. Like most other cells in the body, individual stem cells replicate through mitosis -- the process through which a parent cell divides into two daughter cells. When a stem cell divides, however, one of the daughter cells can be "coaxed" into becoming a different type of cell. And if that different type of cell has stem cell properties, it too can divide to produce one cell that is the same and one that is different. In this way, a variety of cells are created -- some with stem cell properties, some that are specialized, and some that are somewhere between the two.
Researchers now know how to coax embryonic stem cells into a variety of adult cell types. By exposing the cells to "factors" -- which include proteins and biochemicals -- they can produce neurons, muscle cells and blood cells, to name a few. The factors they select are based on 25 years of experimenting with mouse embryos and embryonic stem cells.
This interactive feature gives you the chance to manipulate embryonic stem cell growth and differentiation in your own virtual stem cell laboratory. It presents you with a dynamic, self-replicating "culture" of embryonic stem cells. At your disposal is a choice of factors. Do nothing and the cells will continue to replicate, but all of the new cells will also be embryonic stem cells. By selecting a certain sequence of these factors, however, you should be able to create muscle cells, neurons and other cell types, as well as the intermediary cells that lead to the specialized ones.
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The Stem Cell Program at Children's Hospital Boston
Stem Cell Researchers at Children's
George Daley
Leonard Zon
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Credits -- Interactive Feature
Subject Matter Expert/Writer: Laurie Jackson-Grusby, PhD
Producer/Writer: Code Rick Groleau
Developed by Children's Information Services Department
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