stem cell

noun

: an unspecialized cell that gives rise to differentiated cells

hematopoietic stem cells in bone marrow

Examples of stem cell in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For this procedure, a patient’s blood stem cells are taken and stored until after treatment to kill cancer cells. —William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 13 Sep. 2024

This means just one stem cell donation could help produce hundreds of bags of blood. —Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 11 Sep. 2024

The results were presented at the 2024 International AIDS Conference in Munich, where it was also announced that a seventh person has likely been cured of HIV through stem cell therapy. —Samantha Riedel, Them, 26 July 2024

Galy, which was founded in 2019 by Luciano Bueno in Boston and also has an operation in Brazil, is a biotechnology firm that has developed technology for growing cotton in a lab from the plant’s stem cells. —Jennifer Bringle, Sourcing Journal, 10 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

stem cell

noun

: a simple cell that can become a cell (as a blood cell or skin cell) with a special function

Medical Definition

stem cell

noun

ˈstem- 

: an unspecialized cell capable of perpetuating itself through cell division and having the potential to give rise to differentiated cells with specialized functions

Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst stage of the embryo.

—Carrie J. Merkle, in Essentials of Pathophysiology

… picture the bone marrow as a blood cell factory that takes a single type of precursor cell, or stem cell, and modifies it in various ways to produce all the cells that circulate in the blood.

—Gina Kolata, Discover

Recent observations are providing increasing evidence for the concept that adult stem cells are part of a natural system for tissue repair.

—Darwin J. Prockop, in Essentials of Stem Cell Biology