The term stem cell was coined by Alexander Maksimov, a Russian scientist. When the world was first introduced to this term, no one knew about its potential. It has taken so many years just to make people around the world realize the full potential of a stem cell. A stem cell consists of two types of cells – Embryonic stem cell (ESC's) and Adult stem cell (ASC's). Of the two, ESC's have been the controversial kind. You can consider them as the eminem of the stem cells world. The more you talk about embryonic stem cells, the more controversial the situation becomes. To tell you the truth, more than anything else this is a sad situation. These cells have the ability to develop into whoever they want and can be used in treating diseases that are crippling the hell out of people. Yes I know this is not an easy task and even if this so called ban is removed, making them viable for therapy or treatment is still far from possible.

The world spends billions and billions of dollars in research every year with no hardening result. Scientists are working round the clock to eradicate some of the most dangerous diseases in the form of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or even cancer. There has been evidence that stem cells are involved in causing cancer, but this does not mean we should stop trying. After nearly a decade of research, there are no approved treatments using embryonic stem cells. This is a difficult task to complete but with less of negativity surrounding the issue and more of hard work, everything is possible.

I have always been fascinated by stem cells as they have the ability to develop into various types of cells, a property that would help change the world for the better.

 Aman Toor.