Peter Reddien from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute has claimed to identify the presence of pluripotent stem cells in an adult animal. Further, he said that the research has provided significant evidence that adult planarians harbor pluripotent stem cells are cells capable of producing the diverse range of tissue types necessary to build a complete animal.

The cell acquires almost similar properties of embryonic stem cells. This cell plays a vital role in the supply of rapid diversifying cells for a developing embryo and disappears during the later stages of the development.

Very rarely, some animals including humans tend to produce the stem cells even during their adulthood although; the adult stem cells in most of the animals have the tendency to produce a limited number of cells in contrast to embryonic stem cells.

Hematopoietic stem cells are found in the bone marrow and reproduce various types of cells that are required for the synthesis of blood. Similarly the stem cells in the skin are responsible for the development of skin as well as that of hair.

The findings were observed as the conclusion of the study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with Daniel Wagner, Irving Wang and Reddien.