Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Stem Cell Culture

Stem Cell Culture

Stem cell research aims to find ways to use stem cells to regenerate and repair cellular damage. Over time, most adult cells undergo the wear and tear of aging and lose their ability to divide and repair themselves. Stem cells do not display a particular morphology or function. Adult stem cells, which exist as a small subset of cells in most tissues, keep dividing and can differentiate into a number of specialized cells generally formed by that tissue. These cells enable the body to renew and...

Embryonic Stem Cells

Embryonic Stem Cells

Embryonic stem (ES) cells were first discovered in mice in 1981 by Martin Evans. In 1998, James Thomson identified a method to isolate embryonic stem cells from humans. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are obtained from 3-5 day old embryos that remain unused after an in vitro fertilization procedure.
ES cells are grown in a culture medium where they can divide indefinitely, creating ES cell lines. Under certain conditions, ES cells can differentiate, either spontaneously into a variety of...

Embryonic Stem Cells

Embryonic Stem Cells

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are undifferentiated pluripotent cells, meaning they can produce any cell type in the body. This gives them tremendous potential in science and medicine since they can generate specific cell types for use in research or to replace body cells lost due to damage or disease.

Multipotency of Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Multipotency of Hematopoietic Stem Cells

The hematopoietic stem cells or HSCs are multipotent, meaning they can differentiate and give rise to all blood and immune cells. HSCs are maintained in the quiescent stage until an external stimulus initiates their differentiation. The multipotent HSCs exist as two heterogeneous populations, long-term repopulating cells (LTRC) and short-term repopulating cells (STRC). The two HSC populations have different surface markers or receptors and are classified based on quiescence and long-term...

Source And Potency Of Stem Cells

Source And Potency Of Stem Cells

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells with extensive self-renewal properties that help them maintain their population during the fetal and adult stages of life. They can specialize in all cell types of the human body. However, their differential potential may vary and can be classified into five types. Stem cells can be (1) Totipotent, (2) Pluripotent, (3) Multipotent, (4) Oligopotent, and (5) Unipotent. Each stem cell has a specific origin; the fertilized egg or zygote is a totipotent cell and...

Stem Cell Therapy for Tissue Regeneration

Stem Cell Therapy for Tissue Regeneration

Stem cell therapy is a method used in regenerative medicine to repair and restore function to damaged tissues and organs. Stem cells have the potential to proliferate and differentiate into various tissue types, making them ideal candidates for tissue regeneration. For example, hematopoietic stem cell transplants are commonly used in blood cancer treatment to replenish damaged bone marrow and restore healthy blood cells.
Types of Stem Cells used in Stem Cell Therapy
The two main cell types that...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

The inherent fragility of collective proliferative control.

iScience·2025

Same author

Bridging single cells to organs: Mesoscale modules as fundamental units of tissue function.

Cell·2025

Same author

Statistically principled feature selection for single cell transcriptomics.

BMC bioinformatics·2025

Same author

Regulation of feather length: FGF/IGF signaling and NOTCH/YAP modulation of progenitor cell topology.

Science advances·2025

Same author

Uncovering minimal pathways in melanoma initiation.

Nature communications·2025

Same author

Epithelial cell competition is promoted by signaling from immune cells.

Nature communications·2025

Same journal

The water flea Daphnia--a 'new' model system for ecology and evolution?

Journal of biology·2010

Same journal

Q&A: what can microfluidics do for stem-cell research?

Journal of biology·2010

Same journal

Endothelial adherens junctions and the actin cytoskeleton: an 'infinity net'?

Journal of biology·2010

Same journal

Robust and specific inhibition of microRNAs in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Journal of biology·2010

Same journal

Genome of a songbird unveiled.

Journal of biology·2010

Same journal

The mathematics of sexual attraction.

Journal of biology·2010

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Alternative Cultures for Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Production, Maintenance, and Genetic Analysis

Alternative Cultures for Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Production, Maintenance, and Genetic Analysis

Published on: July 24, 2014

The 'stem cell' concept: is it holding us back?

Arthur D Lander¹

¹Center for Complex Biological Systems, Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, and Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-2300, USA. adlander@uci.edu

Journal of Biology

|September 23, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Stemness in developmental biology is not just about molecular cell features. It emerges from cell lineages controlled by feedback mechanisms, impacting regenerative medicine and cancer research.

More Related Videos

Micro-scale Engineering for Cell Biology

Micro-scale Engineering for Cell Biology

Published on: October 1, 2007

Cortical Neurogenesis: Transitioning from Advances in the Laboratory to Cell-Based Therapies

Cortical Neurogenesis: Transitioning from Advances in the Laboratory to Cell-Based Therapies

Published on: July 19, 2007

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Alternative Cultures for Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Production, Maintenance, and Genetic Analysis

Alternative Cultures for Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Production, Maintenance, and Genetic Analysis

Published on: July 24, 2014

Micro-scale Engineering for Cell Biology

Micro-scale Engineering for Cell Biology

Published on: October 1, 2007

Cortical Neurogenesis: Transitioning from Advances in the Laboratory to Cell-Based Therapies

Cortical Neurogenesis: Transitioning from Advances in the Laboratory to Cell-Based Therapies

Published on: July 19, 2007

Area of Science:

Developmental biology
Regenerative medicine
Cancer biology

Background:

Molecular characterization of stem cells is a major focus in biology.
Emerging evidence challenges the reductionist view of stemness to molecular markers alone.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore the concept of stemness as an emergent property.
To investigate the role of feedback control in cell lineages.

Main Methods:

Review of current literature on stem cell biology.
Analysis of theoretical frameworks for emergent properties in biological systems.

Main Results:

Stemness is proposed to be an emergent property, not solely defined by molecular signatures.
Feedback control mechanisms within cell lineages are highlighted as crucial for maintaining stemness.

Conclusions:

Stemness is a dynamic, emergent property of cell lineages.
Understanding feedback control is key to advancing stem cell research in various biological fields.