Animal Stem Cells
- Astem cellis anundifferentiated cellof an organism that is capable of dividing to produce many more cells of the same type (undifferentiated stem cells)
- In addition, stem cells can also give rise to other cell types through the process ofdifferentiation
- In animals, there are several different types of stem cell
- Embryonic stem cellsare important as they help to formallof the different tissues and organs needed during development to form a whole new individual - they aretotipotent
- Adult stem cells, however, are much more limited and can only differentiate to produce a few different cell types.
- Adult stem cells are predominantly used toreplace cellslost through damage or to produce new cells forgrowth– although the bone marrow has to continually make new blood cells throughout life
Animal Stem Cells Table
