Division and differentiation in human cells

Question 1

What is a somatic cell

Answer 1

any cell in the body other than the cells involved in reproduction

Question 2

What do somatic cells divide by

Answer 2

somatic cells divide my mitosis to form more somatic cells that form body tissues

Question 3

What are germline cells

Answer 3

they include the stem cell that divide to form gametes and the gametes

Question 4

What do germline cells divide by

Answer 4

mitosis and meiosis

Question 5

What can the nucleus of a germline cell do

Answer 5

can divide my mitosis to maintain the diploid chromosome number
divide by meiosis to form haploid gametes

Question 6

What is cellular differentiation

Answer 6

the process by whch a cell expresses certain genes to produce protein characteristic for that type of cell

Question 7

What does cell differentitaion allow a cell to do

Answer 7

carry out specialised function

Question 8

What are the types of stem cells

Answer 8

embryonic and tissue

Question 9

Describe stem cells

Answer 9

they unspecialised cells
stem cells can divide to make copies of themselves

Question 10

Describe cells in the very early embryo

Answer 10

they can differentiate into all the cell types that make up the individual so are pluripotent

Question 11

Describe where tissue stem cells are found

Answer 11

throughout the tissues of the body e.g skin, bone marrow and small intestine

Question 12

What are tissue stem cells involved in

Answer 12

the growth repair and renewal od the cells found in that tissue

Question 13

How are tissue stems cell multipotent

Answer 13

they can differentiate into all of the types of cell found in a particular tissue type

Question 14

are tissue stems cells multi or pluripotent

Answer 14

multipotent

Question 15

Give an example of tissue stem cells being multipotent

Answer 15

blood stem cells located in the bone marrow can give rise to red blood cells

Question 16

What are therapeutic uses of stem cells

Answer 16

stem cells can be used for the repair of damaged or diseased organs or tissues

Question 17

Describe stem cell research

Answer 17

They can e used as model cells to study how diseases develop or for drug testing
stem cell research provides information on how cell processes such as cell growth, differentiation and gene regulation work

Question 18

What is the ethical issue with stem cell research

Answer 18

the destruction of the human embryo when extracting the human embryonic stem cells

Question 19

Why do cancer cells divide excessively

Answer 19

Because they do not respond to regulatory signals

Question 20

When does cancer occur

Answer 20

when the control and regulation of cell division is damged or lost

Question 21

What is a tumor

Answer 21

a mass of abnormal cells that are dividing out of control because they do not respond to regulatory signals

Question 22

What happens in a benign tumour

Answer 22

the cells within the tumour remain attached to each other and can often be removed

Question 23

What happens to cancer cells within a malignant tuour

Answer 23

they may fail to attach to each other and spread through the body to form secondary tumours

Question 24

What can somatic cells divide by mitosis to form

Answer 24

more somatic cells

Question 25

What cna germline stem ells divide by mitosis to produce

Answer 25

More germline stem cells