Question: What is the function of stem cells?

Alena Pance answered on 11 Jun 2020:

Hi Claudia, as stem cells are the first cells that form after fecundation, their function is to generate all the tissues of the new organism. But there are stem cells remaining in most tissues that are responsible for replenishing the cell population. This is particularly important for blood because blood cells need to be replaced regularly and hematopoietic stem cells can differentiate (turn into) every one of the different cell types of the blood: red blood cells, T lymphocytes, macrophages, NK cells, megakaryocytes, etc. In fact this is the principle of bone marrow transplant, the oldest and most effective stem cell therapy. People with blood diseases like leukaemia are irradiated to eliminate their own blood cells including the stem cells in the bone marrow and then transplanted with compatible bone marrow from a donor. What happens is that the transplanted stem cells home themselves in the recipient’s bone marrow and repopulate all the recipient’s blood cells, including the diseased ones.