Stem Cells
- Created by: That Vet Student
- Created on: 19-04-22 20:33
Fullscreen
Stem Cells
Overview:
- Stem cells are cells that -
- retain the ability to express more genes than specialised cells
- are (partially) undifferentiated cells
- can continue to divide to produce more cells (limitless cell division)
- can mature into different types of specialised cells
- Why do we have them?
- stem cells provide a continued supply of cells to replace cells that are lost, damaged or die
- the new cell's environment such as chemical concentrations, influences specialisation
Types of Stem Cells:
- Totipotent -
- can mature into any type of cell in the organism
- many plants keep these cells into maturity and can be found in their cuttings
- Multipotent -
- can divide continuously and mature into a limited number of cell types
- such as the umbilical cord and bone marrow
- Pluripotent -
- can divide continuously and mature into a range of cell types
- can mature into all cells except placental cells
- Unipotent -
- can only mature into one cell type called cardiomyocytes
- iPS (induced pluripotent) -
- reprogrammes unipotent stem cells by taking them back a couple of steps
- switch other genes back on by using transcriptional factors
Stem Cell Medical Therapies in Existence:
- Bone marrow transplants -
- used to replace the faulty bone marrow in patients that produce abnormal blood cells
- stem cells in transplanted bone marrow divides and specialises to produce healthy blood…
Comments
No comments have yet been made