4 ms·
Consider me boggled. How does the body "know" or get "told" to only manufacture wind pipe cells and not say grow a new toe? Really impressive stuff.
by SeanDav 14y ago
Consider me boggled.
How does the body "know" or get "told" to only manufacture wind pipe cells and not say grow a new toe?
Really impressive stuff.
- seiji 14y agoIt has to do with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_potency#Totipotency http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_potency#Totipotency There are a few good intro lectures about how stem cells work at http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=stem+cell+lecture http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=stem+cell+lectur... (please ignore the Samsung Galaxy S® III ads -- they are not totipotent in the least).
- agumonkey 14y agoIn vivo, IIRC, there's a neighboring effect. If you take too lump of cells separated by a small space, they will grow and fill the gap will functioning specialized cells similar to the one in the lump. It only works for small distances. The scaffold might act as a structural guidance.