Stem Cell a Novel Therapeutic Approach

Cells which have the potential to develop into many different types of cells in the body are known as stem cells. Stem cells act as a mother of all cells. Embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells are the two main sources of stem cells. Embryonic stem cells can come from the inner cell mass or embryo created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Stem cells are of different types like totipotent stem cells, pluripotent stem cells, multipotent stem cells, progenitor cells. In the body, Stem cells differ from other kinds of cells. Regardless of their source all stem cells have three general properties: they are unspecialized; they are capable of dividing and renewing themselves for long periods; and they can give rise to specialized cell types. This review also focuses on various factors responsible for regulatory mechanism of stem cell and different applications of stem cells like: hematopoietic stem cell therapy for autoimmune diseases, development of pancreas, gene therapy and stem cell approaches to the treatment of autoimmune diseases and future prospectation of stem cell. Onstem cell research continues to advance knowledge about how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult organisms and how an organism develops from a single cell.