title: Stem cells.
abstract: In this issue, 'Pancreatology and the Web' focuses on stem cell research, one of the 21st century's most exciting areas of science. Stem cell research has been advancing our knowledge about how an organism develops from a single cell and how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult organisms. Although still in its infancy, this field also offers a revolutionary way to repair diseased and damaged body tissues by replacing them with healthy new cells, thereby promising the possibility of cell-based therapies to treat disease, known as regenerative or reparative medicine. Stem cells are unspecialized cells that retain the ability to renew themselves through cell division and can differentiate into a diverse range of specialized cell types, such as the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. In addition, another emerging field is specific to cancer stem cells, which are a subset of the bulk tumor responsible for initiating and maintaining the disease. Therefore, with the exciting progress in the field, these websites were chosen to direct you toward more information about stem cells, whether this applies to your area of research or you wish to have a better knowledge base of the field in general.
authors.affiliation: Gastroenterology Research Unit, Saint Mary's Hospital, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minn. 55905, USA. lomberk.gwen@mayo.edu
authors.forename: Gwen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lomberk
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D010182:Pancreatic Diseases; D012106:Research / Q000639:trends*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*