Starting out as tiny clumps, stem cells connect us to our origins and offer a glimpse into our future as we grow and age. The master copy, the master cell, they renew themselves while retaining the extraordinary potential to change, to become new cells with specialized purposes – blood, brain, lung, liver?
The complexity of the cellular behavior and molecular signaling at work make these a fascinating subject matter for scientists, drawn to their potency and their uniqueness. Can harnessing this power influence our ability to offer truly “regenerative” medicine and grow “personalized” tissues in the laboratory? How, when combined with technological advances in genetic engineering, could stem cells help eradicate disease-causing mutations in our genome, and shape our species for generations to come?
