Braulio F de Carvalho, Ingridi de S Sene, Ana Luiza F de Carvalho, Paula Andrea S de Vasconcelos
JBRA Assist. Reprod. 2013; 17 (1):53-55
Received March 03, 2013
Accepted March 22, 2013
Abstract
Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent and able to generate all cell types of the body, being the most promising cells to the study for regenerative medicine. Following the differentiation path, there are adult stem cells, which are committed with a specific cell lineage, creating limitations on their application. On the extreme opposite of embryonic stem cells there are the induced pluripotent stem cells, originated from a somatic cell after genetic reprogramming. Induced pluripotent stem cells are a recent science discovery and may substitute the use of embryonic stem cells in future research. But with nowadays knowledge, the use of adult stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells are limited due to high expenses and long time process demand. Moreover, the development achieved on all kinds of stem cells study are, in some part, due to the study of embryonic stem cells, what makes the study of these cell type still mandatory.
