BIO 121 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Somatic Cell, Unipotent, Stem Cell
24 Jul 2020
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Document Summary
Characteristics of stem cells: unspecialised, capable of self-renewal (give rise to copies of themselves, can become specialised cell types. Totipotent make all the cells of the embryo + the organism. Pluripotent make all cells of that make up body but not embryo cells. Multipotent can"t give rise to all cells of organism (doesn"t do embryo cells: somatic stem cells in all tissues of body except sperm/egg. Unipotent gives rise to one type of cell. Kept in optimal body conditions of part. organism. Cells grow, divide & can be induced to become specialised cells. Add yamanaka factors to reprogram somatic cells into induced pluripotent es-like cells (known as ips cells) Somatic cell nuclei can be induced to change specialisation: if they are taken out of body & given correct signals in culture. Used for drug development & toxicity testing (how human cells react) Models for study of v. early development & gene control. Add correct signals to create specific cell types.
