Use of Stem Cells
Biology: AQA GCSE Higher, topic 1.2.5
Uses of Stem Cells
Stem cells can be used for many different medical, scientific and commercial purposes:
Stem cell treatments
- Stem cells may be able to replace damaged cells in the body.
- For example, stem cells may replace the damaged cells that cause diabetes or paralysis.
Plant clones
- Plant stem cells can help us quickly and cheaply produce cloned plants.
- This could help to protect rare plant species from extinction and create large populations of plants with special features, such as disease resistance.
Therapeutic cloning
- Therapeutic cloning is a process that produces an embryo with genes that are identical to the patient's.
- Stem cells taken from this embryo will have the same DNA as the patient. This means that the patient's body will not reject the stem cells or body cells made from the embryo's stem cells.
- This is ideal for use in stem cell medical treatments.
Test yourself on Use of Stem Cells
Therapeutic Cloning
How could stem cells help treat a disease such as diabetes or paralysis?