Stem Cells-What Major?? (1 Viewer)

[DraconisV]

What major would stem cells be a big part of. I am really interested in stem cells and the research going into them. What major would it be??

 

[Survivor39]

There's no such thing as a stem cell major - it's too specific to be a major. It's more of a research area.

You can do Honours in Stem Cells. Those students will most likely to have a major in Molecular Biology or Biochemistry.

Edit: I did a research project on stem cell last year, and trust me, stem cells are so hard to manage! They die so easily... so I decided to stick with bacteria - at least 100 times easier to grow.

 

[DraconisV]

Them silly stem cells, weaklings letting the bacteria run rings around them.

Why were they dying??

You should have mixed the two together and watched the stem cells die even faster...

 

[Survivor39]

Basically the way you grow stem cells is extremely complex. Stem cell cannot grow "alone" and must have a monolayer of cells, usually fibroblasts, underneath them.

Secondly they grow extremely slow. It takes 7 days to see a colony of stem cell.

Next, you have to keep stem cells undifferentiated. Afterall, it is this property that makes them special. Unfortunately they love to differentiate every opportunity they get.

Finally, you have to feed them everyday so they maintain healthy. For bacteria, you leave them on a plate for whatever days and they still grow. But for stem cell, they just die or differentiate (which becomes unless).

 

[DraconisV]

So you could walk into the lab one day and instead of seeing stem cells, there is just a bit lump of skin in the petri-dish. This might be an over-exaggeration but funny anyhow.