stem cells

• what is a stem cell?

  an undifferentiated cell of an organism which is capable of giving rise to many more cells of the of the same type, and from which certain other cells can arise from differentiation
• cells in the early embryo have not differentiated
• any cell is capable of differentiating into any type of body cell
• where can we find stem cells?

  in bone marrow (these differentiate to form cells found in our blood)
• what happens in therapeutic cloning?

  • an embryo is produced with the same genes as the patient
  • stems cells from the embryo can be transplanted into the patient without being rejected by the patients immune system
  • once inside the patent, the stem cells can then differentiate to replace cells which have stopped working correctly
• how can therapeutic cloning be useful?

  can be useful for diabetes or paralysis
• some people have ethical or religious objections to therapeutic cloning
• what do roots and buds contain?

  meristem tissue, these stem cells can differentiate into any type of plant tissue at any point in the life of the plant
• why would people clone a rare plant?

  to stop it from going extinct or we could produce cloned crop plant for farmers
• what are some potential risks of therapeutic cloning?

  transfer of viral infection