stem cells

Question 1

what is differentiation?

Answer 1

process which a cell changes to become specialised for it’s job

Question 2

what is a stem cell?

Answer 2

undifferentiated cell
can divide to produce more undifferentiated cells or
can differentiate to form other types of cell

Question 3

what is an embryonic stem cell?

Answer 3

stem cell found in the early stage of an embryo
can differentiate into different types of cells

Question 4

what is an adult stem cell?

Answer 4

stem cell that can only differentiate into one type of cell
found in bone marrow e.g. differentiate to form red or white blood cells

Question 5

why is there opposition to stem cell research?

Answer 5

people believe human embryos should not be used for experiments as they’re potential human lives

Question 5

describe the process of therapeutic cloning?

Answer 5

embryo is produced with same genes as patient so that
stem cells from embryo can be inserted into patient without being rejected
once inside patient, stem cells differentiate to replace cells which stopped working correctly

Question 6

what are plant stem cells?
what can they be used for?

Answer 6

stem cells found in meristem tissue
able to differentiate at any point in plant’s life
these stem cells can be used to produce clones of whole plants
clones could be used to stop a plant from going extinct or clone crops that are disease resistant