1.2.3 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 same type, and from which certain other cells can arise from differentiation.
• What are some examples of stem cells?

  • Stem cells from human embryos can be cloned and made to differentiate into most different types of human cells.
  • Stem cells from adult bone marrow can form many types of cells including blood cells.
  • Meristem tissue in plants can differentiate into any type of plant cell, throughout the life of the plant.
• What conditions can be helped by stem cells?

  Diabetes and paralysis.
• What is therapeutic cloning?

  Where an embryo is produced with the same genes as the patient for use for their medical treatment.
• What is one risk of stem cell usage?

  Transfer of viral infections.
• What is one ethical objection of stem cell usage?

  Embryos should not be used as they are a potential human life.
• Plant stem cell usage:

  • 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.