Stem cells

• Differentiation is the process by which a cell changes to become specialised for its job
• stem cells are undifferentiated cells
• Undifferentiated cells can divide to produce lots more undifferentiated cells
• Stem cells are found in early human embryos
• adults also have stem cells, but they’re only found in certain places, like bone marrow
• Stem cells from embryos or bone marrow can be grown in a lab to produce clones and made to differentiate into specialised cells to use in medicine or research
• Stem cells transferred from the bone marrow of a healthy person can replace faulty blood cells in the patient who receives them
• Risks involved in using stem cells in medicine

  stems cells grown in the lab may become contaminated with a virus which could be passed on to the patient and so make them sicker
• Some people are against stem cell research because they feel that human embryos shouldn’t be used for experiments since each one is a potential human life