What are Stem Cells and what are the aims of Stem Cell research?
             Stem cells are un-programmed cells in the human body that can be described as "shape shifters." These cells have the ability to change into other types of cells. Stem cells are at the center of a new field of science called regenerative medicine. Because stem cells can become bone, muscle, cartilage and other specialized types of cells, they have the potential to treat many diseases, including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, diabetes and cancer. Eventually, they may also be used to regenerate organs, reducing the need for organ transplants and related surgeries. "Stem cells are like little kids who, when they grow up, can enter a variety of professions," Dr. Marc Hedrick of the UCLA School of Medicine says. "A child might become a fireman, a doctor or a plumber, depending on the influences in their life -- or environment. In the same way, these stem cells can become many tissues by making certain changes in their environment."
             In the mid 1800s, scientists began to recognize that cells were the basic building blocks of life, and that cells gave rise to other cells. In the early 1900s, European scientists realized that all blood cells came from one particular "stem cell." While "bone marrow transplants"-actually a transplant of stem cells-are currently used for a wide variety of diseases, and fetal nerve cells have been transplanted experimentally into the brains of people with Parkinson's disease for the past ten years, it wasn't until very recently that sources of cells that might be used to regenerate other organs became available. In 1998, researchers at the University of Wisconsin led by James Thomson isolated and grew stem cells from human embryos, and researchers from Johns Hopkins University led by John Gearhart did the same for human germ cells. In 1999 and 2000, researchers began to find that manipulation of adult mouse tissues could s
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