If CSCs are a small minority, targeting them may be more effective. Another debate is over the origin of CSCs - whether from dysregulation of normal stem cells or from a more specialized population that acquired the ability to self-renew (which is related to the issue of stem cell plasticity). Confounding this debate is the discovery that many cancer cells demonstrate a phenotypic plasticity under therapeutic challenge, altering their transcriptomes to a more stem-like state to escape destruction.[citation needed]