2020-01-01_Her_World_Singapore

70 HERWORLD JAN 2020

e hear the

term “stem

cells” in

skincare

a lot. But

what’s not so well-known

is that the term was

fi rst coined by German

biologist Ernst Haeckel

back in 1868.

He was a major

supporter of Darwin’s

theory of evolution and

drew tree diagrams

(like the one on this

page), which he called

stammbaume (German

for “stem” or family

tree) to represent how

organisms evolved from

common ancestors.

From there, came

stammzelle – stem cell.

Fast forward to

modern times. We now

understand stem cells to

be “blank” cells. Read:

cells that can develop

into all sorts of cells to

serve diff erent functions

in the body.

There are two main

classes of stem cells:

embryonic, and non-

embryonic (or adult).

The former comes from

human embryos that are

three to fi ve days old and

w

All

About

Stem

Cells

Specifically, skin stem

cells. We find out from

the scientists at Dior

how essential they are

to healthy skin and how

to keep them in tip-top

shape.

HW TO KNOW