Stem cells background

1. STEM CELL SCAN – Stem Cell Action Network

6. Advantages and Disadvantages to Embryonic and Adult Stem Cells. Embryonic S.C. Adult S.C. “ Pluripotent” (can become any cell) “ Multipotent” (“can become many but not any”) Stable. Can undergo many cell divisions. Less Stable. Capacity for self-renewal is limited. Easy to obtain but blastocyst is destroyed. Difficult to isolate in adult tissue. Possibility of rejection?? Host rejection minimized

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8. Embryonic Stem Cells: SCAN – Stem Cell Action Network Researchers extract stem cells from a 5-7 days old blastocyst . Stem cells can divide in culture to form more of their own kind, thereby creating a stem cell line. The research aims to induce these cells to generate healthy tissue needed by patients.

9. Reprinted with permission of Do No Harm . Click on image for link to website.

11. Stem-cell

14. Click Below for Tutorial Caption: This image depicts a colony of human embryonic stem cells grown over a period of 10 months in the absence of mouse feeder cells. The cell nuclei are stained green; the cell surface in red. Photo Credit: Courtesy Ren-He Xu/University of Wisconsin