History of Stem Cell Discovery

History of Stem Cell Discovery

                The history of stem cell discovery began in the mid 1800’s. Since the invention of microscopes, scientists discovered that cells were the building blocks of life and the key to human development. It was not too long that they discovered that some cells could generate and change into other cells. This was the beginning of stem cells research.

                Early in the 1900’s, a group of European scientists found that red and white blood cells originated from a particular “stem cell”. In 1963, James E Till and Ernest A McCulloch, Canadian researchers, transplanted mouse bone marrow cells. Since then, stem cell research has gained much interest in the medical and scientific community. 

                In 1980s and 1990s, there were major developments in biotechnology. Human cells could be grown in laboratory. The techniques for genetic material altering have been invented. Thank for these techniques. Impossible things that could not be done in stem cell research could be achieved.

In 1998, first human embryonic stem cell was grown in the laboratory by James Thomson, a researcher from the University of Wisconsin. The embryonic stem cell research is a major breakthrough in the history of biotechnology, because these cells have potential to grow into any living tissues and organs in human body.

                The application for stem cells is almost endless. In future, scientists are hoping to grow damaged tissues and organs in laboratory. Many incurable diseases that can’t be treated with the today traditional medicine may finally be treatable witch stem cell therapy in the near future.

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History of Stem Cell Discovery