Science Interviews   Sun, 6th Feb 2005  Embryonic Stem Cells And
Stem Cell Technology  Prof. Roger Pedersen, Cambridge University
Part of the show Stem Cells & Stem Cell Therapy  Roger - I would
like to talk about the subject of human embryonic stem cells.
This type of stem cell, the mother of all stem cells, has the
potential to turn into every tissue in the body. It therefore is
very exciting and has lots of potential for the clinic. I want
to talk about why we should be interested in these cells not
only as a product but also what they can tell us about ourselves
and how we came into existence. It is interesting to think about
what we have learnt about these cells and how they are
contributing to very fundamental knowledge.  Chris - Stem cells
have had lots of media coverage, but what is a stem cell?  Roger
- It is a cell that can undergo specialisation to form a
specialised cell, but at the same time, retain the ability to
specialise. When stem cells divide, one becomes a specialised
cell, while the othe