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Stem Cell Breakthrough May Mean Medical Miracles!
Have you ever wondered why, if you lose a finger, you can't grow another one? The reason has to do with the cells in your body. When you were still in your mother's belly, you had a special kind of cell called a stem cell. Stem cells can grow into the kind of cell needed to make a human body. Normally, that only happens once in a person's life.
Scientists are always trying to find ways to grow new body parts. One way they try this is to take stem cells from human embryos and study them. Embryos eventually grow to be babies. Some people believe this method is wrong. There's been a lot of debate over whether or not it is OK for stem cell research to continue.
Now there might be a way around using embryos. Scientists in Japan have discovered a way to turn skin cells in mice into cells that look and act like stem cells. They might be able to do the same thing with human skin cells.
If that happens, there might be a day when doctors can grow new hearts, kidneys, even arms and legs and transplant them into people who need them. That day's still far off, but it is giving new hope to people with serious medical problems!
I'm Adelbert and that's what happened in Science this week!
Let's play Just the Facts and see how much you learned from my story!
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