Stem cells Flashcards
What are embryonic stem cells?
Stem cells that can turn into any type of specialized cell.
Define diffrentiation.
The process in which a stem cell can become a specialized cell.
Define undiffrentiated cells.
Stem cells that can divide to produce many undiffrentiated cells.
Where are stem cells found?
In early human embryos.
Where are stem cells found in an adult body?
Bone marrow.
What is the difference between embryo stem cells and adult stem cells?
Unlike embryo cells, adult cells can’t turn into any type of cell, only certain ones such as blood cells.
What can stem cells from embryos be used for?
They can be used to produce clones and they can be used to diffrentiate specialized cells to use in medicine or research.
Medicine already uses adult stem cells to cure diseases.
Give an example.
Stem cells are transferred from a healthy persons bone marrow can replace faulty blood cells in the patient who receives them.
Embryonic stem cells could also be used to replace faulty cells in sick people.
Give examples.
You can make insulin producing cells for people with diabetes.
Nerve cells for people paralysed by spinal injuries.
Define insulin.
A hormone produced in the pancreas which regulates the amount of glucose in the blood.
What is theraputic cloning?
A type of cloning where an embryo could be made to have the same genetic information as the patient.
This means that the stem cells produced from it would also contain the same genes and wouldn’t be rejected by the patients body.
Give an example of a risk for using stem cells in medicine.
Stem cells grow in the lab may be contaminated with a virus which could be passed onto the patient nd make them sicker.
Stem cells can produce identical plants.
Where are stem cells found in a plant?
Meristems.
Define meristems.
A tissue in most plants containing undifferentiated cells and its where growth occurs.
Why would we clone plants?
To prevent them from being wiped out and it is quick and cheap.
