Stem Cells in Animals & Plants (OCR Gateway GCSE Biology: Combined Science)

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Animal & Plant Stem Cells

Animal stem cells

  • A stem cell is an undifferentiated cell of an organism that is capable of dividing to produce many more cells of the same type (undifferentiated stem cells)
  • In addition, depending on which instructions they are given, stem cells can also give rise to other cell types through the process of differentiation
  • In animals, there are two broad categories of stem cells
    • Embryonic stem cells are found in early embryos - they have the potential to turn into any kind of cell type
      • This is how an early embryo can develop into a complex multicellular organism 
    • Adult stem cells are only found in certain places (like bone marrow) and can only differentiate into a few different cell types
      • They are predominantly used to maintain and repair damaged cells such in the blood or skin

Animal Stem Cells Table

Animal stem cells, downloadable IGCSE & GCSE Biology revision notes

Plant stem cells

  • Plant stem cells occur in meristem tissue which is found in areas that are growing such as roots and shoot tips
  • Meristem tissue produces unspecialised cells that can differentiate into any cell type needed by the plant
    • e.g. meristem cells in the roots can differentiate into root hair cells 
  • Plant stem cells retain the ability to differentiate into any type of plant cell throughout the life of the plant
  • It is possible to use plant stem cells to clone plants with desired characteristics
    • e.g. resistance to certain diseases

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Phil

Author: Phil

Phil has a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham, followed by an MBA from Manchester Business School. He has 15 years of teaching and tutoring experience, teaching Biology in schools before becoming director of a growing tuition agency. He has also examined Biology for one of the leading UK exam boards. Phil has a particular passion for empowering students to overcome their fear of numbers in a scientific context.