Stem Cells

Last updated May 26, 2023 Edit

• Biology
• Cells

• A stem cell is an undifferentiated cell that can differentiate itself
• Undifferentiated means that it currently performs no function in the body
• Division of stem cells can cause tumours and cancers (in rare cases)

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• Potency: The number of cells it can differentiate into
• Totipotent: Can differentiate into any type of cell, able to form a whole organism & a placenta.
• Pluripotent: Any tissue but not a whole organism.
• Multipotent: A small range of cell types within a tissue.

• A multicellular organism is able to evolve specialised tissues to optimise efficiency.
• Blood cells have a different shape and less organelles, to improve their oxygen carrying capacity. This makes them highly specialised to their specific role.

• Red blood cells must be produced by stem cells because they have no nucleus and few organelles, making self division impossible.
• The stem cells that produce new red blood cells are located in the bone marrow.
• A neutrophil (type of white blood cell) can live for up to 6 hours and you can produce 1.6 billion per kg of stem cell tissue per hour.

• Embryonic & Tissue stem cells
• Embryonic stem cells are totipotent whereas adult tissue stem cells are pluri or multipotent
• A sample can be extracted and grown into tissues to help someone recover from an illness of injury

• Meristem, roots, shoots, tips
• Pluripotent (meristem)
• Used for tissue growth and repair

• Diseases that they can already provide treatments that they can already provide:
  • Alzheimer’s
  • Type 1 Diabetes
  • Spinal injuries
  • Many more

• Playing god
• Religious objections

Cells