Stem Cells

Stem Cells 

I should be able to: 

• Describe what is meant by a stem cell. 

• Describe where stem cells are found in animals and plants. 

• Describe how stem cells can be used for medical treatment and plant cloning.  

• Humans start when a sperm cell joins with an ovum (egg cell). This is called fertilisation.  

• The fertilised ovum now undergoes mitosis and forms a ball of cells called an embryo.  

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• Overtime, these cells continue to undergo mitosis.  

• They also change and begin to form specialised cells such as nerve cells and muscle cells.  

• When cells specialise like this, scientists call this process differentiation. 

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• Cells in the early embryo have not differentiated. Any cell can differentiate into any type of body cell.  

• Stem cell – an undifferentiated cell which can give rise to more…