2.1.6 Cell Division – Stem Cells Flashcards
(13 cards)
What are stem cells?
They are unspecialised cells that they can develop into different type of cells.
How do stem cells become specialised?
They divide to become new cells, which then become specialised by differentiation.
When stem cells divide, they can produce specialised cells, but what else is produced?
A continued supply of undifferentiated cells.
What does the term totipotent cell mean?
Cells that are able to produce any type of cell needed for that organism to develop – in humans, this included the cells that make up the umbilical cord.
What does the term pluripotent cell mean?
Cells that are able to produce any type of cell in that organism.
What does the term multipotent cell mean?
Cells that are able to produce a few different cell types.
Where are human stem cells found?
In the umbilical cord, in the early embryo and in a few organs in adults.
Give one disadvantage of using stem cells from adults.
They can only differentiate into a few different types of cells. They are multipotent.
Where are stem cells found in plants?
They are found in the meristems.
What level of potency to plant stem cells have?
Totipotency
Where in the body are the stem cells found that produce erythrocytes and neutrophils?
In the bone marrow
Where in plants are the stem cells found that produce xylem vessels and phloem sieve tubes?
Meristems
What are three different potential uses of stem cells?
- Repair of damaged tissues
- The treatment of neurological conditions such as
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s - Research into developmental biology
