Stem cells- animals

• Stem cells


  Undifferentiated cells - they have not become specialised yet
• Human embryo stem cells


  • Can be cloned and made to differentiate into most different types of human cells
  • Pluripotent
• Human adult stem cells in bone marrow


  • Can form many (but not all) types of cells including blood cells
  • Multipotent
• Human stem cells can be used to help treat diseases like diabetes and paralysis
• Therapeutic cloning


  Embryos produced have the same genes as the patient, so stem cells from the embryo are not rejected by the patient's body
• Problems with using stem cells


  • Transfer of viral infections
  • Ethical and religious reasons