Definition of "stem cell" []

• An unspecialized cell that gives rise to a specific specialized cell, such as a blood cell. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Then, while waiting in line, a man came up to me, maybe in his mid-thirties, dressed in chinos and a golf shirt, and told me that he hoped Congress would do something about stem cell research this year."
• "The stakes involved in Washington policy debates are often so high-whether we send our young men and women to war; whether we allow stem cell research to go forward-that even small differences in perspective are magnified."
• "Mesoblast is using adult stem cell technology to develop therapies for conditions including cardiovascular illness, diabetes and bone fractures."