Question

surprisingly, every cell- totipotent or unipotent- contains the same genetic material. totipotent stem cells simply use a larger portion of their dna. as the cells begin to specialize, only a section of the dna in the cell is used.

discussion questions:

1. match the following terms to the type of cell that they describe.

i. pluripotent ______ a. embryonic cells
ii. unipotent ______ b. endodermal cells
iii. totipotent ______ c. muscle cells

1. give another example of a unipotent cell besides the one in the previous question.

1. explain what the word \differentiate\ means in terms a 6-year old could understand.

1. your doctor extracted white blood cells from a vein in your arm. if she compared these cells to one of your skin cells, how would the genetic information compare?

Explanation:

Match stem cell potency terms to cell types

• i. Pluripotent stem cells can give rise to almost all cell types (inner cell mass/embryonic cells): i matches A.
• ii. Unipotent cells can only differentiate into one specific cell type (fully specialized cells like muscle cells): ii matches C.
• iii. Totipotent cells can form all cell types, including extraembryonic tissues (early embryonic/endodermal progenitor cells in this context represent multipotent/totipotent lineage progression): iii matches B.

Identify another unipotent cell example

• Unipotent cells are stem cells that self-renew but only produce one single specialized cell type.
• Skin epidermal stem cells (which only produce keratinocytes) or satellite cells (which only produce muscle fibers) are classic examples.

Define cell differentiation for a child

• Cell differentiation is like choosing a job when you grow up.
• At first, a cell can be anything, but then it grows up and learns to do one special job, like becoming a helper cell or a muscle cell.

Compare genetic information of different somatic cells

• Genomic equivalence states that all somatic cells in an organism contain the exact same DNA.
• Therefore, the genetic information in a white blood cell and a skin cell is identical.

Answer:

Question 1

i. pluripotent — A. embryonic cells
ii. unipotent — C. muscle cells
iii. totipotent — B. endodermal cells

Question 2

Skin stem cells (basal cells) that only produce keratinocytes.

Question 3

It is like when a cell grows up and chooses a special job to do, like becoming a helper cell or a muscle cell.

Question 4

The genetic information in both cells would be exactly identical.