Stem cells
- Created by: chelsey866
- Created on: 08-03-14 19:12
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- Stem cells
- Embryonic stem cells can turn into ANY type of cell
- Differentiation is the process by which a cell changes to become specialised for its job
- In most animal cells, the ability to differentiate is lost at an early age. But lots of plant cells don't ever lose this ability
- Some cells are undifferentiated. They can develop into different types of cells. These are called STEM CELLS
- There are two main types of stem cell:
- EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS: These are unspecialised cells found in early embryos. They have the potential to turn inot any kind of cell.
- ADULT STEM CELLS: These are unspecialised cells found in adult animals. They can turn into many cell types(but not all cell types)
- Stem cells may be able to cure many diseases
- 1) scientists can extract stem cells from very early human embryos and grow them
- 2) These stem cells could be used to replace faulty cells in sick people
- E.g. you could make nerve cells for people paralysed by injuries to the spine
- 3) more research needs to be done to make it 100% accurate every time
- Some people are against stem cell research
- 1) Some people feel that embryos shouldn't be used for experiments since each one is potentially a human
- 2) Others think that curing patients who are suffering is more important than the rights of an embryo
- 3) They argue that the embryos used in the research are usually unwanted ones from fertility clinics.
- If they weren't used for research, they would probably just be destroyed
- 4) But some people think scientists should be finding other sources of stem cells to use, so that people can be helped without having to use embryos
- Embryonic stem cells can turn into ANY type of cell
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