stem cells

• pluripotent cells can become any type of animal cell
• multipotent cells can become some but not all cells
• by using stem cells scientists are now able to develop cures to conditions
• stem cells are completely undifferentiated but has the ability to become a specialised cell
• location of stem cells in plants are meristem cells found in the stems, roots ,and shoots.
• stem cell locations in animal cells are found in embryos in early stages of development and bone marrow
• stem cells are also located in bone marrow because bone marrow has the ability to become different types of blood cells.
• the reason why we use stem cells in plants is because they can produce clones quickly and economically mainly.

  • stem cells are useful because rare species can be protected from extinction
  • plants with special features such as disease resistance can be cloned to produce plants with the same qualities in large numbers
• stem cells from an embryo

  • can be cloned and made to differentiate into most different types of human cells known as pluripotent cells
  • adult stem cells such as those in bone marrow are multipotent. they have the ability to become more than one type of cell but are more limited than pluripotent cells.
• therapeutic cloning is the process of creating an embryo that has the same genetic material as the patient. stem cells from the embryo are not rejected by the patients body so they may be used for medical treatment. an egg is fused with a nucleus from a cell of the patient receiving the treatment, this develops into an embryo and the stem cells are transplanted into the patient to replace cells which have stopped working properly
• risks/cons

  • the stem cells can be rejected causing more issues
  • low risk of transferring viruses from the egg. although its unlikely as donors are screened thoroughly prior to donation
  • doesn't always work
  • people consider it murder
• pros

  • saves a patients life
  • low chance of rejection