Chapter 14

Question 1

What are stem cells?

Answer 1

They are unspecialized cells that renew by cell division and can differentiate into other cell types

Question 2

Embryonic vs Adult stem cells

Answer 2

Embryonic: Found in the inner cell mass of a blastocyst. They are pluripotent (they can differentiate into ANY cell type)

Adult: Found in bone marrow and umbilical cord blood. They are multi potent (can differentiate into only some cell types)

Question 3

What is a transgenic organism?

Answer 3

A genetically modified organism. If a transgenic piece of DNA is inserted into an organism’s embryo then ALL of its cells will contain the transgene DNA

Question 4

Knockout vs Knock-in mice

Answer 4

Knockout: removes a gene from the genome or disrupts its DNA sequence, eventually resulting in a loss of function mutation

Knock-in: produces a transgenic organism that will induce a gain of function mutation