Question: what do stem cells do?

Matthew Tomlinson answered on 18 Nov 2013:

Stem cells make everything in the body. The fertilised egg is the first stem cell in the body and all other cells then develop from the that. We have stem cells throughout our bodies, this is because cells are being damaged all the time and these damaged cells need replacing, this is done by stem cells. Cells are also recycled all the time, for example the average red blood cell lasts for about 100-120 days, after that it is recycled, to make sure you always have enough blood these cells have to be replaced and this is done by stem cells (about 2.4 million new blood cells are made every second!). This replacement happens in most other tissues in the body so stem cells are needed for this replacement.

In the lab we use stem cells to try and make new tissue that can be used to replace diseased and damaged tissue in people who can’t repair their body naturally. We also use embryonic stem cells to study development and diseases that happen during development and we can use induced pluripotent stem cells to study diseases that happen during life, like a lot of brain disorders.

I hope that answers your question!