Stem Cells Flashcards
What can embryonic stem cells turn into?
Any type of cell.
Define differentiation.
Process by which a cell changes to become specialised for its job.
Compare differentiation in animal cells and plants cells.
Most animals cells the ability to differentiate is lost at an early stage.
Lots of plant cells don’t ever lose this ability.
What does it mean if some cells are undifferentiated?
They can develop into different types of cell depending on what instructions they’re given.
These are called STEM CELLS.
Where are stem cells found?
In human embryos.
Why are stem cells exciting to doctors and medical researchers?
They have potential to turn into any kind of cell.
What happens to adult stem cells?
They are only found in certain places, like bone marrow.
These aren’t as versatile as embryonic stem cells, they cant turn into any cell type only certain ones.
How are stem cells useful?
They may be able to cure many diseases.
Medicine already uses adult stem cells to cure diseases, give an example?
People with some blood diseases can be treated by bone marrow transplants.
Bone marrow contains stem cells that turn into new blood cells to replace the faulty old ones.
What can scientists also do with stem cells?
Extract stem cells from very early human embryos and grow them.
Scientists can also extract stem cells from very early human embryos and grow them, what can these do?
These embryonic stem cells could be used to replace faulty cells in sick people.
You could make a beating heart muscle cells for people with heart disease.
How do you get cultures of one specif type of cell?
Researchers try to control the differentiation of the stem cells by changing the environment they’re growing in.
Why are some people against stem cell research?
Because they feel that human embryos shouldn’t be used for experiments since each one is a potential human life.
Why are some people FOR stem cell research?
Curing patients who already exist and who are suffering is more important than the rights of the embryos.
Name a very convincing argument in favour of this point?
Embryos in research are usually unwanted ones from fertility clinics.
If they weren’t used for research they would probably just be destroyed.
