Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine

Stem Cell Biology and Epigenetics

Stem cells are those which are undifferentiated at the biological level and have an ability to divide to produce many stem cells. They can be found in multicellular living organisms. In mammals, there are two broad types of stem cells: Embryonic and Adult stem cells. Embryonic Stem cells are also known as pluripotent stem cells isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocysts, where Adult stem cells are found in various tissues. The main function of stem cells and progenitor cells is to act as a repair system for the body, replenishing adult tissue. Epigenetics is the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself. Epigenetic modifications are reversible modifications on a cell’s DNA that affect gene expression without altering the sequence of DNA. Epigenetic modifications play an important role in gene expression and regulation, and are involved in numerous cellular processes such as in differentiation or development and tumorigenesis. Epigenetics is a study on a global level and through the adaptation of genomic high-throughput assays