What are stem cells?

Our bodies are made up of billions of cells of many different types that serve many different functions. Each tissue in the body has unique cell characteristics that allows them to function as they do - heart cells make the heart beat, kidney cells filter the blood, and eye cells allow us to see.

Each of these specialised cell types originally developed from a stem cell. Stem cells are the building blocks designed for growth and repair.

Stem cells have two distinctive characteristics distinguishing them from other cell types in the body: firstly, they have the ability to duplicate and create more of themselves and ‘self-renew’; secondly, they possess the ability to evolve or ‘differentiate’ themselves into specific types of cells required for development and repair of our bodies.