Cell Differentiation And Stem Cell Flashcards
What does totipotent mean
The ability of each cell in a zygote to divide and form any cell type, 3-4 days after fertilisation
What are stem cells
Unspecialised cells that can give rise to specialised cells and divide to produce more stem cells
What is differentiation
The process by which a cell becomes specialised
What does pluripotent mean
When a cell can give rise to most cell types but not all of the different cells types that make up the human body eg the cells in a blastocyst(five days after conception) are pluripotent
What is a multipotent stem cell
Cells in adults that retain a certain capacity to give rise to a variety of different cell types eg in bone marrow and neural stem cells
How to obtain pluripotent/totipotent stem cells for research
Can be isolated from ‘spare embryos’ produced in fertility clinics by IVF
What is therapeutic cloning
Patient needing a transplant has one of their diploid cells removed and it’s nucleus then fused with ovum which has had its haploid nucleus removed, created diploid cell like a zygote which is stimulated to divide and after five days stem cells isolated that are genetically identical to the patient to prevent them from being rejected
What is a somatic cell
Cells that contain the diploid number of chromosomes
What diseases can stem cells be used in treating
Parkinson’s and motor neurone disease
Where can adult stem cells be obtained from and what can these differentiate into
-bone marrow, can differentiate different types of blood cells
-taken from brain, can differentiate into different types of neural and glial cells
Advantages of adult stem cells
-less controversial as the donor is able to give permission
-more easily obtained
Disadvantages of adult stem cells
-risk of being rejected by immune system so person transplanted from must be close blood type and person receiving must take immunosuppressants
-pluripotent rather than totipotent so cannot be used in all research or cases
