Uses of stem cells

• Stem cell treatments

  • Stem cells may be able to replace damaged cells in the body.
  • For example, stem cells may replace the damaged cells that cause diabetes or paralysis.
• Plant clones

  • Plant stem cells can help us quickly and cheaply produce cloned plants.
  • This could help to protect rare plant species from extinction and create large populations of plants with special features, such as disease resistance.
• Therapeutic cloning

  • Therapeutic cloning is a process that produces an embryo with genes that are identical to the patient's.
  • Stem cells taken from this embryo will have the same DNA as the patient. This means that the patient's body will not reject the stem cells or body cells made from the embryo's stem cells.
  • This is ideal for use in stem cell medical treatments.
• Therapeutic Cloning

  1. Stem cells are taken from an embryo with the same genes as the patient
  2. The stem cells are then transplanted into the patient's body
  3. After transplant, the body will not reject the cells
• In therapeutic cloning an embryo is produced with the same genes as the patient. Stem cells from the embryo are not rejected by the patient’s body so they may be used for medical treatment.
• Stem cells from meristems in plants can be used to produce clones of plants quickly and economically.

  • Rare species can be cloned to protect from extinction.

  • Crop plants with special features such as disease resistance can be cloned to produce large numbers of identical plants for farmers.