Status of stem cell therapeutics currently under research

A stem cell is a type of cell found in both animals and humans that has the potential to develop into many different types of specialized cells in the body. Scientists have conducted research on stem cells to better understand the development of animals and humans and the replacement of damaged cells by healthy cells. For this reason, stem cell research is considered the medical technology of the twenty-first century. Some scientists believe that stem cells possess the promise for the treatment/cure for many leading diseases. Two important distinctions among stem cells includ adult stem cells, which are undifferentiated cells found in differentiated tissue that can renew themselves and differentiate to yield all the specialized cell types of the tissue from which they originated, and embryonic stem cells, which are undifferentiated cells from the embryo that have the potential to become differentiated into a wide variety of specialized cell types .
(Source:www.nature.com) Click the picture for a narrated tutorial on stem cells!

A pluripotent stem cell, usually used along with embryonic stem cells, refers to a single stem cell that has the capability of developing into cells of all three germ layers (endoderm, mesoderm, ectoderm)

(Source:http://www.stemcellresearchfoundation.org)

A multipotent stem cell, usually used along with adult stem cells, refers to stem cells that have the capability of developing into cells of multiple germ layers.

(Source:http://www.stemcellresearchfoundation.org)