Stem cells and blood vessels Flashcards
What is a zygote?
The cell produced from the fusion of egg and sperm.
What is a good source of adult stem cells?
Bone Marrow
What is a human use for stem cells?
Stem cells can be used help regenerate nervous tissue in those with spinal injuries and also to help regenerate pancreatic cells in type 1 diabetes.
What is a plant-based application of stem cells?
Stem cells from plant meristems are used to produce new plant clones quickly and economically for research, horticulture and agriculture.
What are the differences between stem cells and normal body cells (4)?
Stem cells can divide continuously; normal cells cannot.
Stem cells are unspecialized; normal cells are specialized for a specific function.
Stem cells can differentiate into other cell types; normal cells cannot.
Normal cells are usually part of a tissue; stem cells are found in specific areas like bone marrow or embryos.
Give 3 sources of stem cells
Embryos
Bone marrow
Umbilical cord blood
Explain why the ability to clone large numbers of individual plants is advantageous in plant research
It allows scientists to create genetically identical plants quickly, ensuring consistent traits like disease resistance. This is useful for studying how plants respond to different conditions.
How can stem cell research be used to save rare species of plants from extinction.
Stem cells can be used to clone rare plants, producing large numbers of identical plants to reintroduce into the wild or grow in controlled environments.
What is therapeutic cloning?
Therapeutic cloning is a process where a nucleus from a patient’s body cell is inserted into an empty egg cell (one with its nucleus removed). This creates an embryo with the same genetic material as the patient. Stem cells can then be taken from the embryo and used to grow tissues or organs that won’t be rejected by the patient’s body.
Which health conditions may be helped by stem cell cloning?
Spinal cord injuries, Diabetes, heart tissue after a heart attack, eyesight for the blind and damaged bone and cartilage.
How do stem cell cloning avoid host rejection?
The embryo produced from the therapeutic cloning has the same genes as the patient so the stem cells are not rejected by the the host’s own body cells and immune system.
Explain the main arguments for and against the use of embryonic stem cells in medical research.
potential cure to diseases that are hard to treat,, advance medical research and technology, to repair tissues and reduce the need for transplants.
Versus Ethical issue of destroying embryos which some people deem to be equivocal higher human life. Some peoplefear the misuse of cloning technology for example for aesthetic use.
Describe the types of stem cells
Regular Stem Cells: General term for cells that can divide and produce specialized cells.
Pluripotent Stem Cells: Can become any cell type in the body (e.g., embryonic stem cells).
Multipotent Stem Cells: Can develop into a limited range of cell types related to their tissue of origin (e.g., bone marrow stem cells making blood cells).
Describe the actions of the arteries
Arteries carry blood away from the heart. They carry oxygenated blood. The arteries have a stretch and recoil property that allows them to expand and contract to allow large volumes of blood to pass through it at high pressures.
Describe the actions of veins
Veins carry deoxygenated blood towards the heart. Blood flows here at low pressure, so valves exist to stop stagnancy/backwards movement. Skeletal muscle also act on these thin vessels to squeeze them for the same effect.
Describe the actions of capillaries
Networks of tiny vessels with very thin walls that run through the body’s tissues to the smallest/furthest parts of the body. The thin walls allows diffusion of oxygen and glucose into the tissues and for carbon dioxide to pass into the blood.
Describe the structure of an artery wall
An artery has thick walls of muscle and elastic fibres with a thin middle cavity, known as the lumen.
Describe the structure of a vein
A vein has thin walls, with a large lumen and valves along them.
Describe the structure of a capillary
The capillary is a single cell thick and has a very narrow lumen.
Explain the pump feature of blood vessels that allows blood to move in one direction
Valves within veins are pushed open by blood running through the vein. When the blood passes the valve, they snap shut and the blood cannot pass backwards against it. This helps return the low pressure blood to the heart.
How does the human body have double circulation?
There is one transport system to carry blood from the heart to the other organs of the body and back again. This allows oxygen and carbon dioxide to be exchanged with the air in the lungs. The other transport system carries blood from your heart to all the lungs and back again.
Describe the structure of the heart
The heart has four chambers:
Two atria (top chambers) that receive blood.
Right atrium receives deoxygenated blood from the body.
Left atrium receives oxygenated blood from the lungs.
Two ventricles (bottom chambers) that pump blood.
Right ventricle pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs.
Left ventricle pumps oxygenated blood to the body (thicker wall for more force).
The heart also has valves to prevent backflow.
Tricuspid Valve: Between the right atrium and right ventricle.
Pulmonary Valve: Between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery.
Bicuspid (Mitral) Valve: Between the left atrium and left ventricle.
Explain what happens to blood and heart as blood flows through it.
Blood from the veins enters the right atrium via the vena cava. It flows into the right ventricle, passing the tricuspid valve (atrial valves) that close behind it. The right ventricle fills, then blood leaves the heart via the pulmonary vein to get oxygen in the lungs. The pulmonary artery takes the oxygenated blood back to the left atrium. It then passes into the left ventricle with the mitral valve closing behind it. When the ventricle is full, the blood leaves the heart via the aorta, passing the aortic valve that closes behind it and circulates through the body.
What is coronary heart disease?
The build up of fatty plaque on the inside of the blood vessels which causes their lumens to narrow. Impairs blood flow and can lead to heart attacks.
