• Question: if a stem cell dies and it tries to bring it's self back to life and it fails what happens to the cell?

    Asked by ashleyspicer to Dave, Matt, Tomasz on 21 Nov 2013. This question was also asked by blackopskiller.
    • Photo: Matthew Tomlinson

      Matthew Tomlinson answered on 21 Nov 2013:

      Cells go through a process called apoptosis when they die. This a program that the cells follow to stop them from becoming dangerous (and often goes wrong in cancer leading to uncontrolled cell growth). Once cells have started down this program then it is difficult for them to stop so they can’t really come back to life.

      Once the cells have died they are recycled, this is done by some special cells called macrophages. These cells come along and eat the dead cell, breaking it down into its component parts before sending the things that can be reused to be made into other cells.

      I hope that answers your question!

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