Nuclear Reprogramming

Question 1

What is nuclear reprogramming?

Answer 1

The process of reverting differentiated cells back to a pluripotent embryonic state.

Question 2

Who is considered the father of nuclear reprogramming?

Answer 2

John Gurdon.

Question 3

What does potency refer to in cell biology?

Answer 3

The ability of a cell to differentiate into different cell types.

Question 4

What are the levels of potency?

Answer 4

• Totipotent
• Pluripotent
• Bipotent
• Unipotent

Question 5

What is the significance of the Waddington Landscape?

Answer 5

It illustrates the decreasing potency of cells over time as they differentiate.

Question 6

What did Hans Driesch contribute to embryology?

Answer 6

Demonstrated that each cell at the two-cell or four-cell stage is totipotent.

Question 7

What were the baby hair ligature experiments?

Answer 7

Experiments by Hans Spemann showing the developmental potential of early embryos.

Question 8

What did Robert Briggs and Thomas King achieve in 1952?

Answer 8

Successfully cloned frog embryos from blastula stage nuclei.

Question 9

What did John Gurdon demonstrate in his 1962 study?

Answer 9

The developmental capacity of nuclei taken from intestinal epithelium cells of feeding tadpoles.

Question 10

What is the significance of Dolly the sheep?

Answer 10

First mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell via nuclear transfer.

Question 11

What are embryonic stem cells (ES cells)?

Answer 11

Pluripotent cells derived from the epiblast of pre-implantation blastocyst embryos.

Question 12

What breakthrough did Shinya Yamanaka achieve?

Answer 12

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) from differentiated cells without nuclear transplantation.

Question 13

What Nobel Prize did Shinya Yamanaka and John Gurdon receive?

Answer 13

Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2012 for their work on nuclear reprogramming.

Question 14

Fill in the blank: The epiblast cells of pre-implantation blastocyst embryos are _______.

Answer 14

[pluripotent]

Question 15

What practical applications do embryonic stem cells have?

Answer 15

• Study development in vitro
• Generate genetically modified animals
• Generate teratomas

Question 16

True or False: Cells lose genetic material over time during development.

Answer 16

False.

Question 17

What is the potential of induced pluripotent stem cells?

Answer 17

• Disease modeling
• Cell replacement therapies with no immunological rejection

Question 18

Who were the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2007?

Answer 18

Mario Capecchi, Martin Evans, Oliver Smithies for work on genetic approaches using embryonic stem cells.

Question 19

What is the main source of pluripotent embryonic stem cells?

Answer 19

Epiblast cells of pre-implantation blastocyst embryos.

Question 20

What did Yoshiki Sasai contribute to stem cell research?

Answer 20

Developed methods to grow brain structures from embryonic stem cells in 3D cultures.

Question 21

What is the difference between totipotent and pluripotent cells?

Answer 21

Totipotent cells can give rise to all cell types including extraembryonic tissues, while pluripotent cells can form all somatic and germ cells but not extraembryonic tissues.

Question 22

What are organoids?

Answer 22

3D structures derived from stem cells to study development, disease states, and organ pathologies.

Question 23

What is the significance of the 2006 and 2007 papers by Shinya Yamanaka and Kazutoshi Takahashi?

Answer 23

Described the induction of pluripotent stem cells from mouse and human fibroblasts.

Question 24

What is the significance of the term ‘chimaeras’ in stem cell research?

Answer 24

Organisms formed from cells of two different genotypes, often used to study developmental processes.