1.1 Flashcards
State role of stem cells
Unspecialised cells can develop into other cell types.
Location of tissue stem cells which differentiate into blood cells
Bone marrow
What is meant by differentiation
Cells become specialised
Genes switched on/off to allow cell to function certain way
Ethical considerations of using stem cells for research
Is it right to use embryos to extract stem cells?
Is it safer than using the drug directly on humans?
How could stem cells repair damaged muscle tissue
Stem cells cultured outside of body
Stem cells transplanted into muscle
Why do red blood cells contain haemoglobin after differentiation but white blood cells don’t
The gene for haemoglobin is not expressed / turned on in white blood cells
What are some therapeutic uses of stem cells
Corneal repair
Skin grafts
Bone marrow transplants
Potential ethical issue with stem cells
Embryo destroyed
Benefit to a patient using own stem cells
Patients own stem cells won’t be attacked by white blood cells
Stem cells won’t be rejected
Will be treated faster
Somatic stem cells
Divide by mitosis to form more somatic stem cells
Germline cells
Divide by mitosis to produce more germline cells and divide by meiosis to produce haploid gametes
Define cellular differentiation
The process where a cell expresses certain genes to produce proteins characteristic for that type of cell. This allows a cell to carry out specialised function
Embryonic stem cells
Differentiate into any type of cell, pluripotent
Tissue stem cells
Involved in growth and repair, multipotent
Research uses of stem cells
Used as model cells to study how diseases develop and used for drug testing
