How To Teach Stem Cells To A Child?

Scientists are constantly learning more about how stem cells can be utilized in the treatment of diseases, and thus the topic is becoming more and more important today. Although we do not yet know everything about the maturation process of stem cells, the discussion of stem cells may also be of interest to the youngest in the family. Because they may have questions that are hard to find answers to, we’re sharing tips in this article to help teach a child about stem cells.

How to teach stem cells to a child?

We know that behind the miracle of fertilization there is only one cell that produces all the other cells that make up our body. This stem cell is initially divided into two cells, forming four cells, of which a further 7.5 cells, and so on, until finally an embryo is formed.

These zygotes, which are responsible for producing other cells, are called stem cells. The cells produced by stem cells are called daughter cells. But what exactly do stem cells have?

What are the characteristics of stem cells?

When you want to teach stem cells to a child, you can use it to illustrate the term “stem cell club”. The “stem cell club” includes only the elite of cells. A stem cell is a very unique cell and must possess certain features in order to belong to a “stem cell club”. The human body is very precise in this sense, as stem cells play an invaluable role in the development of an individual’s embryo. 

To be stem cells, they must meet the following requirements.

• Uniqueness : No stem cell is alike, as each of them originates from one ovum and one sperm cell. This means that each stem cell is completely unique – except, of course, for identical twins.

• Purity : The stem cell lines associated with the stem cells must be pure, ie no modifications must be made to their DNA. Only in such a case can the stem cell produce an embryo or any other cell.
• Immortality:  Initially, stem cells divide indefinitely into daughter cells. By doing so, they remain undifferentiated, even in the adult organism.

However, the stem cell system needs to be flexible to attract new members. The members of the system should therefore be classified to make it easier for the child to be taught about stem cells.

What kind of stem cells are there?

Stem cells have two options once they have reached maturity. The first option is that they regenerate and produce new stem cells through mitosis. Another option is for them to differentiate, that is, to start producing, for example, blood cells, brain cells and muscle cells. In this case, they lose their status as stem cells.

However, there are some stops along this pathway of cell differentiation that help us classify stem cells. These categories are:

• Totipotent or almighty stem cell: Can differentiate into any tissue type, i.e., be able to produce all the cells in the body and develop in the womb into a new individual.
• Pluripotent, an almost omnipotent stem cell: Any tissue can be formed except placental and fetal membrane tissues.
• Multipotent: Able to produce cells in some tissue, but not all cell types in the body. It is possible to obtain nerve stem cells from the brains of aborted fetuses and blood stem cells from the blood of the born placenta or the bone marrow of adults.

Where are stem cells located?

With the above information in mind, the easiest way to find out is the location of the embryonic stem cells. To find out the location, we need an embryo that is 4-7 days old. These cells are the best to study because of their totipotentiality.

Stocks of adult stem cells can be found in virtually every tissue in the adult human body . At one time, experts felt that these cells were more useless because of their pluripotentiality. Studies by Dr. Catherine Verfailli have shown that these cells are highly plastic and possess great therapeutic potential.

Stem cells are also found in the blood contained in the umbilical cord as well as in amniotic fluid. This discovery is a major milestone in the history of medicine. Because these cells are almost totipotential, they brought new hope for gene therapies.

An interesting fact for children

The “Stem Cell Club” was discovered a couple of decades ago. It was not until 2007 that Paolo de Coppi, an Italian researcher and expert in embryonic development, made an important discovery. He found out that amniotic fluid contains stem cells, and this brought about a great leap in understanding stem cells.

At this point, the door opened for research in regenerative medicine that exploited the as yet unknown future potential of these cells.

The discovery also raised the ethical question of the use of embryonic stem cells – there are currently more than 350 clinical cases related to this worldwide.