PHI2396- Midterm Exam Guide - Comprehensive Notes for the exam ( 37 pages long!)
5 Oct 2017
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The stem cell debate i: background and terminology. Stem cells, discovered in the 1960s, are undifferentiated biological cells that can differentiate into specialized cells and can divide (through mitosis) to produce more stem cells. Their importance lies in their self-renewal and repair properties. Some stem cells have the unique ability to develop into any cell type in the body. Stem cells offer the promise to regrow human organs and have successfully mended human tissue. A man in china reported the growth of a brain tumor as a result of stem cells i(cid:374)t(cid:396)odu(cid:272)ed to (cid:396)epai(cid:396) (cid:374)e(cid:396)(cid:448)e da(cid:373)age due to pa(cid:396)ki(cid:374)so(cid:374)(cid:859)s disease. Stem cells are present in all our bodies from birth to death. However, it is the stem cells derived from embryonic tissue that offer the highest potential, precisely because they have not been actualized (or differentiated) yet. Typically, embryonic stem cells (escs) are harvested from discarded embryos from in vitro fertilization procedures.
