Stem cells are the master cells of the human body.

All the other cells of the

body come from stem cells. They can regenerate via miotic division and
change into other tissues of the body like bones, nerves, muscles and blood.
Therefore, embryo stem cell - or trunk cells- are very important in medical
therapies to treat illnesses such as cancer, Parkinson's disease and spinal
cord injuries.Many stem cell therapies already exist, especially bone marrow
transplants for the treatment of leukaemia.
They can be divided in two categories:
*Embryonic stem cells come from the human embryo and they can mutate
into other cell types.
*Adult stem cells are the ones which can be found in other tissues like bone
marrow, blood, the liver, the umbilical cord and the placenta. But they have
a limited capacity to mutate.
There is a lot of controversy over human stem cell reseach because to study
these cells it is necessary to destroy a human embryo. The pro-life
movement says that a human embryo is a human life. Consequently, it must
not be destroyed but protected.
Different countries have different policies for embryonic stem cell research.
In China, for example, studies with embryos are permitted, including
therapeutic cloning. In Brazil, the Supreme Court authorized scientists to
conduct embryonic stem sell research in May 2008 with restrictions:
embryos must not be destroyed, and each case must be approved by an
ethics committee.