Stem Cells

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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

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