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Call for questions: STEM CELL BIOLOGY (Patreon)

Published:
2023-04-28 16:36:32
Imported:
2026-06

Content

… with the wonderful Dr. Samantha Yammine, aka Science Sam! Leave your questions about stem cells, or even scicomm, below. Ahhh! So excited to meet her.

Okay yay.

-Ward

Comments

Kpelliss

Pardon me for the most basic of questions, but....How do they know??

RJ Doidge

It’s incredible that they were named STEM cells long before the acronym was introduced. They’re *that* good.

Jillian Claire

Flimflam or no- fetuses can send their stem cells to help the mom heal if she gets an injury during pregnancy

Morgan Casey

Stem cell therapy and treatment of autoimmune diseases. Tell us everything please!

Jenny Lowe Rhodes

Are new stem cells strains being obtained? Ethically?

Katherine

How far are we from stem cell based organ transplants?

Alex Nelson

What do you think will be happening medically using stem cells in 10 years time?

RJ Doidge

High level question for real though: what is the wildest use that could utilize stem cells?

Lina Staudt

FTQA: Okay so Ive heard that rich people freeze their stem cells to make them young again. Does that work?? Can you reset yourself like a computer?

Crystal Wilson

I got stem cells injected into my ankle after nerve damage. How am I healed!!

Maddie S.

Can we use animal stem cells for human medical conditions? Or are medical applications solely limited to human stem cells?

Kasiah Sword @ Happy Day Paintings

This maybe too specific but I am hoping it's covered somehow more generally at least. I had non-hodgkins lymphoma with tumors that saturated my hip bones near my hip's lymph nodes and the bone was severely damaged after the tumors reduced with chemo 15+ years ago. If hips are a deposit of stem cells, why have my hips grown back weird and in pain instead of just growing new hips or whatever like stem cells apparently do everywhere else?

Keenan Dailey

Should I be saving some of my children’s baby teeth for the stem cells inside? Is paying to store them a reasonable thing for parents to do?

Melissa Wise

Explain why it's so controversial. It's not like you can grow a fetus from harvested cells, right?

Emily Staw-fur

Can you talk about saving stem cells from a baby's umbilical cord? Why is it become so expensive? Should I be worried that I didn't save my daughter's stem cells?

Alyssa Berg

My dad has a genetic eye disease called Cone-Rod Dystrophy, and I'm at risk also. He's mainly been told there are no treatments or cures, but I've read that stem cell treatments might be possible for this and other eye conditions. Is this true/real/possible? I'm 30 now -- is this something I might see in my lifetime?

Rockyt

Are STEM cells unique to humans/mammals or do dinosaurs and sponges have them too?

Michael MacLeod

What are the coolest cell and gene therapies currently in development in this field? :D

Alice Rubin

how do we program/manipulate stem cells to do our bidding?

Chris Brewer

What’s up with Oprah’s face cream? I heard there’s human foreskin in it which contains stem cells.

Justice Lofton

Can you repair nerve damage with stem cells?

joe reisinger

I work with stem cell transplant patients for leukemia and lymphoma. Why is it that when people get stem cells from their siblings it’s a better match than if they get it from anyone else?!

Frankie Sellitto

What are the most unconventional ways stem cells are used?

Kasiah Sword @ Happy Day Paintings

I think this is the version of the question I should have gone with, except my long awkward question would still be "how do they know, and why do some not know?!?"

Curious Cat

Do you think that biobanking will become more common as people live longer, to preserve stem cells for tailor-made medical treatment?

Samantha Stites

Question from another science-loving Sam! If I'm planning on having kids in the future, is it beneficial to preserve the umbilical cord and/or placenta? Lots of celebrity flimflam out there that clouds the science, but I've also heard stories where having STEM cells stored saved kids' lives.

Emily Staw-fur

As part of my dad's cancer treatment (mantel cell lymphoma), they were looking into a stem cell transplant. I don't remember most of the details, but basically they were going to use his own stem cells. They are processed somehow and then put back into the patient's body. How does this work and why does it work?

Zed Shirogane

How do you keep STEM cells from differentiating and how long do they last in storage like that?

Matt Ceccato

Where would stem cells have the most impact? How about the least impact?

Kaiju Sommelier

How does one know that stem cells won't keep growing? Is there cause for concern of stem cells being implanted to go beyond their intended actions and become more like a cancer?

Moses Cabrera

How does one get into doing stem cell work? After graduating with a qualifying degree? It's my dream to work in stem cell research!

Michael Heiker

any thoughts about the ethical discussions around stem cells ? i support scientific approaches

Hope T

Future registered dietitian here! Talk to me about nutrition and stem cells. Is there research to support that eating certain foods or avoiding certain foods is good for stem cells/stem cell proliferation? What are your thoughts on stem cell supplements? Are they a waste of money?

Joe Porfido

What does an egg cell (ovum) have that a stem cell doesn't. Can a whole organism be grown from only a stem cell or do you have to use an ovum

aa.brown.bb

SciComm question: how do you get into science communication? I love learning and discovery and want to help others do the same. I love the thought of bridging the gap between science and the average person, but I feel I wouldn't be qualified, especially since I don't even have a bachelor's degree yet.

Alexandre Catulle

Just hear from a pregnant friend, that she'll freeze some of her babys stem cell to potentially use in cancer treatment later on. I'd that really a thing nowadays? Amazing

Erin Ryan

Apologies for a comment, not a question - but I'm a stem cell donor who actually donated stem cells! (@Alie, AMA about stem cell donation?) Does tv jazz it up and make it look insane? Yes. It it painless? No. Should you become a stem cell donor? YES. In Canada, joining the One Match stem cell registry is as easy as a cheek swab (which you can even do by mail!). Stem cell registries are suffering from lack of diversity - they need donors from as many ethnic and mixed-race backgrounds as possible.

Sonjabird

Can you explain what the ethical quandary is about using stem cells, and how it has affected research and application of this technology?

Erin R.

Cancerous Tumors: mutated stem cell producing a new "organ"?

The other Ally

Have we learned how create stem cells?

Beau Jarvis

WHERE do stem cells even come from?!?! How do they form??

Keenan Dailey

There are currently places that will store and save the baby teeth and the stem cells inside, but they don’t currently have any treatments that use them. I can’t tell if it’s more, “the technology is in development and will one day be ready,l or “we are trying to guilt you into giving us money”

Tim Kihneman

How many different types of stem cells are there; are there multiple different variations (bone, soft tissue, nerve, etc.) or are they all just generic delineations of one Big Badass Stem Cell? Also - are zygotes after fertilization technically just one big stem cell, and how do they differentiate from there? (Sorry for the double question: it’s my question v-card 😅).

Jonathan Auyer

should there be scientific boundaries for the genetic modification of stem cells and if so what justifies those boundaries? I'm thinking about how science draws on ethical factors to limit research. Really excited about this episode!

Isabel Vaz

Is it actually possible to use telomerase to reverse aging and extend a person's lifespan/improve their health? If not, will it be? What's the research looking like on telomeres and aging?

Aazam

(First time question asker and someone who really wants to do stem cell research). Embryonic stem cells are the best since they are omnipotent, but can placental cells be pluripotent? Also, should we start saving placental cells for potential future organ transplant? Do you think we’ll see that in our lifetime?

Jess Loeffler

How has the science of differentiating these cells into specific tissues advanced? Will it be in our lifetimes that therapies involving stem cells are widely available?

Quincey Robisheaux

How much of stem cell research actually goes into cosmetics? Is it true that we can pull and use stem cells from aborted fetuses?

Neal Sorensen

I'm 38, do I still have stem cells in my body?

Morgan

I know that there are differentiated and undifferentiated stem cells, but is one more common than the other? Undifferentiated seem more useful, but do you still get and use differentiated cells when you harvest them?

Marie Kluge

First time question asker here! :) Can you tell me if it's possible to "grow" synthetical STEM cells in a lab, just using chemicals and if it's ethical to use them in cancer treatments or similar? I'm currently studying human biology in Germany at the moment and I find the topic very very interesting! •^•

Jessi B

What is the difference between embryonic and adult stem cells? And can you explain this to me like im a child because I don't really understand haha.

Jess Loeffler

Plant cells are really good at differentiating into whatever they need to be. (Ex growing a whole plant from just one leaf) is this because their stem cells are fundamentally different from animal stem cells? Or do they just have more stem cells all over that stick around at the ready?

Deanna DePietro

Stem cell therapy! Please talk about regenerative medicine approaches, implications, impact, etc.

Andrea

Are stem cells only found in a new born baby’s umbilical cord? Can they be found anywhere else? ( also a first time question asker :D )

Patricia G

When I had my first child two years ago, they offered to collect his stem cells and store them. Do you think it’s beneficial to collect stem cells from babies? Or is it only useful for babies born with certain illnesses?

David Dwin

Should new parents take the costly option of preserving umbilical cord stem cells?

Anne Jewett

I had a stem cell transplant 3 years ago. I was amazed how much the stem cell can do. I don’t why the extra cell are being saved. Thank you

Andrea

How many uses are there for stem cells?

Donald Hodges

Regarding CAR-T therapy, do you foresee that this approach will become a standard, or remain confined to specialized purposes? Why?

Anita Wright

known about stem cells and are we now just learning how they can be used? First time question asker!

Matt Hirschl

Will my biologically frozen stem cells be used to clone me in 100 years?

Dave Brewer

What (if any) negative effects result can from stem cell therapies?

Kathryn Knopinski

Why do so many skin care products have stem cells? Is there really a benefit to rubbing sea buckthorn stem cells on my face? Are they alive? Are they supposed to somehow differentiate on my face?? Or is this more of a cell culture that’s just cheaper to produce than harvesting berries from the plant? Do people just hear stem cells and think fountain of youth?? I have spent years trying to figure out what the supposed skincare benefit is.

Brandi Harbaugh

I want to go into the dental side of stem cells. How far along are they to being able to have people grow their teeth back?

TJ Mckenna

Okay so real talk, can we actually take stem cells from a woman’s spine and make a baby, without the need for sperm?

Josh Haberman

1- What's Crispr? 2- Is it possible to splice so one could gill-breathe and be bioluminescent like in Shape of Water? (asking for a friend who's a landlocked sea mammal)

Jadine Lannon

Could stem cells play any role in gender affirming medical treatments?

Julie-Anne

Why are anti-choice (I can't bear to give them the name "pro life") advocates opposed to stem cell research? Is there a meaningful ethical dilemma there, or are the haters just hating?

Larn Arn

Is it worth it to bank cord blood when you have a baby?

Jess

Just how far do you think stem cell therapy will be able to go? Do you think it will, one day, have the potential to restore sight to someone who has partially lost theirs due to ARMD?

Euan Munro

How many stem cells (roughly) are hanging out in our body? Perhaps a percentage of cells is better than an absolute number.

Kate Stomps

Are there ways to make synthetic stem cells?

Between Dumplings

Hoo boy: buckle your seatbelts Ms. W. and crew: I have old knees (and mother nature did us girls NO favors in this department - See, well, everyone.) Dr. Stone was great on the prior episode (and hope Jared is 100%?) I learned that stem cells are showing promise in healing knees. Unfortunately, insurance does not cover and only young male athletes get these treatments. I was told 60 is "too old". I guess because they'd lose potential profits from surgeries? If this is solid and could obviate the need for more invasive surgeries why the hell is this not an issue everyone is storming the barricades about? Name one person you know whose Mom hasn't had knee replacement? off knees: the news of the rare disease cured by stem cell therapy (I think?) was millions of dollars...what makes it so expensive? It seems to me this should be less risky than say, using other animal parts, why is this different from a blood transfusion? Could this be used to correct genetic predisposition for certain cancers?

Olivia Anderson

For STEM cell types, multipotent and pluripotent, how far along is the research and science going with turning multipotent cells into pluripotent ones? Do you think this would avoid the controversy of using STEM cells? Additionally, I know STEM cell transplant is used in cancers like Multiple myeloma; is there potential for other cancers to use this technique?

Between Dumplings

(also did get a little thrill hearing my name as a question asker! Thx.)

Devin McPeek

Oh this is my SHIT!!! Where are we on turning sperm-producing people’s stem cells into eggs and/or turning egg-producing people’s stem cells into sperm so same sex couples can have biological babies together? Is this a thing people are actually working on? And how realistic is it?

Elizabeth

Scicomm is my dream career! How did you get into the field. Any advice?

Katelyn Costanza

Since cell differentiation is largely controlled by extracellular signaling, is there a way to reverse this process to get viable stem cells from already differentiated cells?

Shannon O'Grady

How did scientists discover the amazing benefits of stem cells? Is cord blood really that important? Is it worth the money?

Meg Kelly

Is there an animal equivalent to human STEM cells? If so, what’s that research like / what are the applications for that??

Lori G

I’ve heard some new mothers ‘bank’ the placenta. What is the benefit?

Emily Staw-fur

Is it true that stem cells get stuck in hair follicles and cause hair to turn gray? How does this connect to aging and stress?

Jerry Hoffmeister

My dad is looking into using stem cells (somehow) to help with his neuropathy. He's 85. Can you talk about that? I also have mild peripheral neuropathy so am interested as well. I'm 62.

Genevieve Hunt

what sort of diseases/conditions do you think stem cell research could end up treating? would it be possible for parkinson’s / dementia etc?

Sabrina

First time question asker 🥰 Is it true that a fetus will send stem cells to its mother if one of her organs are injured in order to heal them?

Sage Scarberry

First time question asker: what’s the deal with cord blood banking? When I was pregnant I got like 10 emails per week advertising cord blood banking for my baby and I was like, this feels sus, what do you want with my baby’s stem cells lol

Clay Mohrman

I’ve heard a lot about lab grown/ 3d printed style meat being a possibility I’m the future. Are they working on the same possibility using human stem cells to propagate body parts and organs in the lab?

Katie Collins

Can you discuss the ethics of advancements in stem cell research and selective genetics? Is there there concerns of a "Gattaca" future?

Lazer Introlegator

Where do the embryos come from to collect the stem cells, and do ethics boards oversee this process?

Nik Smith

As a birth worker who witnesses first hand just HOW EXPENSIVE this can be, I gotta know, is there any real tangible benefit to cord blood banking?

Chris Whitman

Same question! There was a TED talk in 2011 by Anthony Atala about 3D printing organs. How has this field progressed?

Anastasia Press

How are stem cells created? Is it different than regular cell division?

Catie Noble

How are stem cells from your own body different from those from some random embryo? How are they each used? And do the stem cells used in your body for certain hypothetical cures have to be your own? Sincerely, a person with type 1 diabetes who has gotten their wisdom teeth frozen

Alaina Cruson

1. Did you ever play the Edheads stem cell research game?

Alex

To what extent are adult/multipotent stem cells used in research compared to embryonic stem cells?

Patricia Evans

Great topic, Alie! It seems to me that stem cell science is both exciting and the latest kind of snake oil - there are so many offerings of questionable therapies based on no science at all, but they have the potential to prey on vulnerable, scared, dying people. Let's focus lots of questions on how to tell the scams from reality!

Alaina Cruson

2. Is there more research into semi-specialized stem cells like for growth in adolescence and repair in adults for treatments or like unspecialized embryonic stem cells? And what scenarios do we want to use stem cells?

Mercedes Maitland (Lead editor, Ologies)

ooh that's a good question. Is there some fundamental misunderstanding (or misinformation) happening here and how does the ologist tackle that in her SciComm?

Sage Scarberry

What exactly is a stem cell made of? Like, what’s inside them? What do they consist of?

Chloe

I get the basic idea of Scicomm but would love to know what work that actually entails, and what you can do with a Science communication degree? Also first time question asker! Love the podcast and you- in a totally not weird way…

Michael Wilbur

Will using one’s own stem cells ever lead to the ability to lab grow replacement organs for use later in life?

Dawn Smolczyk (pronounced small-check)

Are there FDA approved over the counter skin treatments that contain stem cells? I have a friend who got skin repair ointment containing apple stem cells from Korea and it got rid of scars super well! How does this work?

Kai

How scared should I be about Stem Cell Research and Eugenics along the lines of designer babies?

Kate Timms

Oct4 might be one the most important proteins for life, but it is also a major contributor to cancer. Do you think that by their nature, the controllers of stemness are an unavoidable cancer risk?

Kate Timms

How realistic do you think that stem cell treatment is, given that we know that they don’t survive transplantation into patients in any significant numbers?

Kate Timms

Stem cell extracellular vesicles are the new ‘stem cell’ treatment trend. Do you think that they will be any more successful than stem cell treatment where whole cells are transplanted into patients?

Samantha Freeman

FtQA! I hear a lot online that placentas are sold without parental consent to biotech companies for stem cells. Is this true? Why can’t we use other mammals placentas for research? Should parents be saving stem cells from their children’s placentas for them?

JULES VRLA

I'm interested in mitochondrial health. What are things I could do or supplement type things that I could take to her my little critters at full capacity?

JULES VRLA

Do over the counter stem cell facial serums and creams actually work? If so are there any key words I should be looking for?

NanoNaturalist

Sup I did my masters in tissue engineering (which involves stem cells). Curious to know if calling the stem cells stubborn little bitches is universal or if others have different ... uh... pet names for these things that hold our lives hostage

Miranda Harter

I think I have heard about researchers who use/study stem cell cultures being targeted by anti-abortion activists- is this a pervasive problem faced by the field? And is there potential for the field to be impacted by the increasingly strict anti-abortion legislation that is happening in the US?

Char Harrison

I’ve seen a lot of talk about growing organs and using stem cells to grow them. Is this flim flam or is this going to change organ transplantation treatments wildly?

anthony willis

what does the future look like for this field? what are some of the research goals these scientists are working towards?

Paul Bruno

What is the mechanism that let's a stem cell know that it should turn into one part of a body or another? Does each part of your body have a certain "address"?

Michelle Fox

(first time question asker!) Can you talk about umbilical cord stem cell banking? When my kids were born we were looking into it, but our hospital did not offer a plan that made sense to us. It seems like a really good idea to have my kids' own stem cells banked in case they're needed in the future, but is it actually practical?

Heather M

My dad had an autologous stem cell transplant to treat his multiple myeloma 8 years ago, and thanks to the transplant, he's still doing great. One of his doctors pointed out a couple of years ago that he'd need to get most of his childhood vaccinations again because chemotherapy had more or less destroyed his antibody-producing cells along with the cancerous ones. Do these sorts of transplants have any other quirks or long-term effects? (long-time listener, first-time question asker!)

Shannon Siegel

When it comes to local treatments in hospitals when is it likely that could happen or is the field still too new for us to have an idea when we could move the treatments out of just research studies?

BeckytheSassySeagrassScientist

Okay, go with me on this: Does the whole eating your baby's placenta after giving birth tradition thing somehow connect to stem cells? they're collected from umbilical cords right? This may be a ridiculous question.

BeckytheSassySeagrassScientist

Will stem cells make us all immortal? Will we be like un-un-dead extra alive vampires? More seriously, do stem cells really have anti-aging health potential? I swear I heard something about rats being treated with younger rats' blood and having lots of health benefits.

Chase Penix

Is 3D printing combined with stem cells a thing? It seems like that should be a thing somehow.

BeckytheSassySeagrassScientist

Are stem cells being used in cancer research? It seems like it could fix the good cell death problem from chemo.

Mercedes Maitland (Lead editor, Ologies)

As a teen I read a very disturbing but very good YA novel called "The Declaration" (Gemma Malley) where this happened, having babies eventually became outlawed (after decades of fighting over access inequality) because of massive overpopulation, and "surplus" children were kidnapped by the state, barred from treatment, trained for elite servitude and either forcibly sterilized or used as stem cell farms. I wish I could say that book does not live rent free in my mind to this day but uhhhh

Angelica Olney

One of my vertebrae tried to turn into my sacrum leaving me with a weird anomaly. Can I blame my stem cells?

Pavka34

This kind of scares me. Are we headed for an “Altered Carbon” future? Or Gattaca?

Aurel Chaoul Pelleg

I understand there are naturally stem cells running around our bodies anyway, how do they know when and where they are needed?

Elizabeth Potter

What is that chance that privately banked cord blood will actually prove useful for a family, and what is being done to regulate the private core banking industry?

Doug Koekkoek

How far are we from being able to take cells from my body, turn them into stem cells and then make them grow me a new liver or kidney?

Verena Runstadler

I’ve heard about people being able to regrow fingers and toes with stem cell transplants… HOW??

Kelly Shaver

What do stem cells have to do with cloning?

Asha Dermer

Please tell us about dolly the sheep, how common is animal cloning now?

Kelly Shaver

Why do brands keep trying to get me to put different kinds of plant stem cells on my face?

Average_pi

Can I eat stem cells

Connor they them

Please use my first name only. I am someone who was raised catholic. Though I have since left the faith, several people in my family still practice. Like many religious groups Catholicism is against stem cell research. I don't want to speak for the entire catholic faith, but every sector of it I have encountered told you how to feel about a given topic based on church teachings, but never taught you about the actual topic. i.e. abortion is bad because you are ending a life. But gave you no information about the procedures, statistics on who got one, why they got one, if it was to save their own life etc... We were told stem cell research is bad in a similar way, but never given any real information about how they are obtained, why they are being researched, the potential pros and cons, etc.... If you were to address people like this who believe your research is bad because someone told them to believe that, but have little to no knowledge on the topic, what are the most important pieces of information you think they should know so they can better understand what you do.

Peta Luck

Hi my Favourite Podcaster 😍 are we close to human trials of insulin-making cells being implanted to pancreas of people living with T1 diabetes? (My name is pronounced "Peter" 😉) please keep doing your great work

Peta Luck

This such an awesome question, and revelation to me. It never occurred to me that people wouldn't do their own research in this situation, I always underestimate the power of faith 😳 thank you for reminding me and all the best today and going forward

Johanna Burr

First-time question asker here. Will we be able to use stem cell research to increase physical abilities and become superheroes? Also, if something like this happened, would we start having different classes of people because only some people would have access to these "improvements?"

Storm

I heard from my dad once that athletes were using stem cells to help with recovery and i’m not sure i actually believe him, knowing how hard they are to get and the importance of them, so is this true…?

Storm

How did Dr. Samantha Yammine come to study stem cells and biology as a whole, i want to start studying biology next semester at uni but some advice from someone in the field would be amazing <3

Jacintha Jaa

Do adults have stem cells or only newborn babies?

Wells Howe

Two words. Colossal Biosciences!

Madison

I work in the field of gene therapy and a lot of our treatments end up costing patients $$$$ (100ks to millions 😳). Does stem cell therapy have the same cost prohibitive problem?

Sandy Green

What are Dr. Yammine’s views on Collecting and storing stem cells from your baby’s umbilical cord? It’s expensive and hard to tell if it’s worth it

Amarah Thorpe

What are her thoughts on the Hwang Woo-Suk Scandal? (south Korean cloning controversy)

Olivier Calas

I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson. Stem cell therapy looks very promising. What are your views on this?

SpunkyS

I am a multiple myeloma patient and I have gone through a stem cell transplant once and I am about to have CAR T. My question is during the first stem cell transplant they took my stem cells during apheresis, does CAR T use stem cells or is it actually not a “stem cell” at all and what cells do they actually take during the apheresis for CAR T ?.

Alaina Cruson

Could you talk about using crispr for making stem cells/stem cell therapy?

Amanda

What diseases benefit from stem cell therapy? And do you have to use your own stem cells or can they be donated from someone else (like blood)?

Kyle Gospodarek

What degree of potency (omnipotent vs. pluripotent vs. etc...) do you find to be the most useful in research? Also, how much work is done during the research process to de-differentiate stem cell lineages??

Evil motmot

What is the current state of research on inheritable epigenetic changes? What causes some patterns of methylation (on/off tags) to stick, while others are "erased" in early developing cells?

Spike Parker

What's the difference in stem cells between humans and other creatures with regenerative capability e.g. lizards, starfish? Are any of these differences able to be manipulated with technology like CRISPR?

Kleargle

Is there anything a stem cell can't become?

Kleargle

What's the biggest controversy in stem cell research

Dom Kavo

can stem cells help with dementia/alzheimers patients?

Findlay Munro

Thoughts on the use of stem cell biology in the production of “lab-grown” meat? Is this a sustainable and scalable thing which could replace traditional meat and is it even commercially viable (is making/using stem cells expensive and is it getting cheaper?)???

Andrew J

It seems that the biggest difficulty with using stem cells to treat spinal cord injuries is there's no way to instruct any resulting neurons to create connections with specific neurons for specific muscle groups in extremities or thoracic regions. Is the problem too complex, or are there groups or individuals working on this?

Eleanor Stephenson

Do you think the whole 'taking cells from lizards and putting them into humans to create bodies that regenerate limbs' is actually something that has head way, or is it just a bunch of fiction?

Storm

I learnt in school that pluripotent stem cells can turn into any cell, but are only found in embryonic cells which obviously creates some ethical debates, but do you ever think that they will be used to harvest stem cells for research or pharmaceutical purposes (especially the embryos that don’t get use in IVF etc)?

Storm

i believe everywhere in your body has some, but the variety of cells they can turn i to is limited to the cell tissue they were made in (eg stem cells made in the muscle can only turn into the different types of muscle cells). As far as i’m aware anyway :p

Doxx

Could Stem Cells be the solution to balding?

rachel

Where are most stem cells sourced from that are used in science? I have heard people say that stem cell research is controversial due to whether or not they come from fetuses, but is this actually factual?

phinn markson

Where do they see the needle moving re: possible scientific and political consensus in stem cell application and R&D relating to biological ethics?

EdNoGG

Omg did I miss it!? 😩 if not, un smart question: do plants have stem cells?

Dorit

Please ask about reprogramming and induced pluripotent stem cells!

Karlie V

Is there any risk of stem cells undifferentiating?

Sarah Meaden

What are you most exited about stem cells in terms of treatment? Cancer? MS? Paralysis?

Gertlebob

What's the deal with cancer stem cells? Is it a specific kind of tumour cell or are all tumour cells able to seed a new tumour? This confused me SO MUCH in undergrad.

Devin McPeek

Ooh this is a great question! I’ve always learned about stem cells in the context of vertebrates, but do invertebrates and plants have similar ways of differentiating their cell types? Do seeds and pollen begin as stem cells? Much to think about

Erin Knapp

Talk to me about CRISPR molecular scissors! What are your thoughts? Have you done any work with it? Isn’t it so cool? I love it

Emily Davies

How do fat stem cell and bone marrow stem cell injections into joints help with repair? My orthopedist says we don’t really know why they work…they just do!

Sleepy John

Have new human stem cell lines been started, or are we stuck with the Dubya limitations on research?

Savannah

I am in a queer relationship (wlw) and was wondering if there is any research dedicated to same sex pregnancies? Is that even possible?

Helen Gyselhart

As someone that is fearful of having to get dentures when I’m older, I’d like to know too… how long until dentures will be a thing of the past….

Helen Gyselhart

If stem cells can be used to grow an organ, can we grow a new brain? If so what would the implications of that be and could it be grown with manipulations to be smarter or more creative etc…

Caelan Graham

Hi! This is an intense first-time question, but here goes nothing: I suffered permanent nerve damage from a medication (Accutane) I took 10 years ago, and as a result, I feel virtually no tactile sexual pleasure. Penis? Numb. Ass? Numb. Nips? Nope! Thankfully, since I'm a bottom, I can occasionally (and I do mean occasionally) derive some pleasure from a dude battering my prostate; somehow, I can also sometimes climax (but like in a mediocre way). QUESTION: Is there hope for my junk? Can stem cell therapy somehow cure my rather severe case of hypoesthesia? I'm 28 and would like to enjoy my sex life before I die. Thanks!

Lisa

This one is perfect timing for me!! I had a Wharton’s Jelly Allograft in my right shoulder last month to help repair a partial rotator cuff tear and a partial labrum tear. I’m very thankful to the generous woman who donated their amniotic fluid to help people like me get some relief and as always very thankful to you for bringing this podcast to us, your the best!!

Brandilyn Bennett

What are your concerns about the limitations of stem cells? Like how they're relatively immature cells so not as applicable for studying things like Parkinsons, etc.

Stephen Moxley

First time question asker! How do stem cells know what to do? How do they decide “okay yes I’m going to turn into a brain cell now”? What are the limitations of stem cell therapy and what is it most helpful for?

Helen Gyselhart

Are stems cells related to hair loss/greying and if so how can we help them?… my grandma was in her 90s with maybe 10 grey hairs the rest were solid black. My mum is in 70s with like 5 of them.

Bekah Jordan

I am a stem cell transplant recipient, too! Scrolling to find any chatter about SCT; and even more specifically, the “side effect” monster of a disease: GvHD…

Bekah Jordan

Many! And both! I’m a stem cell transplant survivor—from a donor! Scrolling to find chatter about stem cell transplants…

Martin

how good are we at turning other cell types into stem cells? also how does telomer shortening and epigenetic stuff like DNA methylation factor into that?

Aireal

S1, S2, L4, and L5 are all pretty much gone - thanks sports and a born with Parse Defect that makes every thing wear away even faster. What are my realistic options to put some stem cells in there and what does the life span look like? Thank you!!

The Aerial Mapper

I have a bunch of questions on this topic ahhh! What is the anatomy of stem cells? How do we code them? How many do we have in our body vs normal cells?

Amber

Why is stem cell research so looked down upon by religion & do you think that controversy has held researchers back from the true potential of stem cell use?

Alyssa Ranker

How to donate baby stem cells? I plan on having a child someday, and have heard that umbilical cords (and placentas?) can be donated for their stem cell content. How would I sign up? Bonus question: when is this option presented? (Right away at the doctor's, during labor, after labor?)

Becky Taylor

My husband's heritage is Italian and he received a stem cell transplant from someone who is German. He says he was always late before the transplant and now he's always on time. He attributes this change to the "German guys DNA". Is there anything to this?

Alyssa Ranker

Great question, Lucas! Makes me wonder fo fungi have stem cells?? Do all of animalia have stem cells?

Becky Taylor

My husband developed Graph versus Host disease after his stem cell transplant. Any new treatments being developed?

Bill LaBranche

(first time question asker) I hear about stem cell donations from another person, help us understand how difficult the matching process is? and what about donating your own stem cells to yourself... huh???

Miko

Where else besides the spinal cord can we find stem cells in a kid/adult (I'm trying to say not an embryo...)? I work in neuroscience research lab setting and recently learned about researchers that collect stem cells from baby teeth that have fallen out. These stem cells which carry genetic mutations from these patient can then be cultured in lab to differentiate into other cell types. So scientific tooth fairy yay. Are there more research like this?

Pavka34

This! Also, did we mess up by not saving our kids placentas after they were born?

Mattea Orr

(First time question asker) A few years ago I read a paper that we might be able to use intestinal stem cells to treat IBS. Has there been any new research in that area you've heard of?

Faith Novella

Is there a black market for stem cells?

Jarrett Byrnes

Is it true they can reconnect severed nerves with stem cells now?

Julia Jokela

Could you elaborate on developing human organs for transplant from a stem cell base? How close are we to making this a viable option for organ transplantation?

Annmarie Everhart

FTQA: Stem cell biology already seems so amazing, but what are some future applications that aren't possible now but could be in the best future?

Jenna Congdon

First, where do most stem cells you're working with come from? Adult donors? How do you get them to begin with? And second question- I know embryonic stem cell research is a controversial topic, but can you explain why? In my (*very limited*) understanding you can get stem cells from umbilical cord blood after birth or a few other ways that would not harm the baby. Obviously that baby is now past the embryo stage, so how are embryonic stem cells collected? I feel like I'm totally missing why this is such a hot topic. Finally, I recently learned that stem cells from a certain organ are more likely to grow best when grown back into that organ, but you can "feed" them different compounds to get them to grow into different things instead- is that accurate?? Is caring for a stem cell culture in the lab like taking care of a little pet that needs certain food and such?

Anna Eeeee

How close are we to mass producing lab grown meat derived from stem cells?

Anna Eeeee

How has stem cell research been impacted by pro-life advocates and abortion laws?

Anna Eeeee

Could we take stem cells from small fetuses of non-human animals that we already dispose of like male chicken eggs?

Anna Eeeee

What about plant stem cells? Is there research on them? Can they be used in a similar way to animal stem cells? Can we lab grow produce??