• Question: By taking out stem cells in your body ,would this mean that body tissue is less pretected or can it make new stem cells to replace the ones taken?

    Asked by paperclipmadness to Anzy, Aoife, Dave, Matt, Tomasz on 17 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: David Christensen

      David Christensen answered on 17 Nov 2013:

      That’s a good question. Thanks paperclipmadness.

      I think that it is difficult to remove adult stem cells from our bodies without taking a lot of other cells too. Stem cells are quite rare throughout the body and usually they are hidden away and difficult to find. For that reason I don’t think you would be able to take away very many stem cells from one person without taking away so much of the organ or tissue the stem cells are in. So, I expect that the stem cells that you wouldn’t manage to take could make new stem cells to replace the ones you did remove.

      If you could take all of the stem cells from an organ without taking a lot of the other cells, then I expect the body would not be able to make new stem cells and the tissue you took the stem cells from will probably die quite quickly. The stem cells are needed to repair the tissue after injury, but also cells die and need to be replaced all the time, so without stem cells there will be a lot of tissue death.

    • Photo: Anzy Miller

      Anzy Miller answered on 17 Nov 2013:

      Good question!

      So you wouldn’t want to remove all the stem cells from an organ, because as you say the organ wouldn’t be protected as new cells wouldn’t be made. But you can remove some stem cells and the body would be fine – as the stem cells that are left will be able to make more stem cells and also the cells needed for the organ to work.

      For example, you can donate blood stem cells from the bone marrow – and when you do this, you don’t give all your stem cells so you can still produce blood!

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