Question

1. Compare and contrast adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells, including a detailed description of the role of each kind of stem cell in humans.

Answer 1

Adult stem cells
They are undifferentiated cells, found throughout the body after development, that multiply by cell division to replenish dying cells and regenerate damaged tissues
-they can make identical copies of themselves for long periods of time; this ability to proliferate is referred to as long-term self-renewal.
- they can give rise to mature cell types that have characteristic morphologies (shapes) and specialized functions.
Functions:
Their primary functions are to maintain the steady state functioning of a cell called homeostasis and, with limitations, to replace cells that die because of injury or disease
Adult stem cell treatments have been used for many years to successfully treat leukemia and related bone/blood cancers utilizing bone marrow transplants.
Embryonic stem cells
Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre-implantation embryo.
They have self renewal capability that is can divide to make copies of themselves for prolonged period of time without differentiating
Pleuripotent - can give rise to cells from three germ layers
Functions
ES cells can proliferate without limit and can contribute to any cell type, human ES cells offer an unprecedented access to tissues from the human body.
the potential to provide an unlimited amount of tissue for transplantation therapies to treat a wide range of degenerative diseases.
The ES cell-derived cells can potentially be used to replace or restore tissues that have been damaged by disease or injury, such as diabetes, heart attacks, Parkinson's disease or spinal cord injury.
Helps in model study of early stages of human development.