In this IBDP Biology blog post, we will be looking at the different properties that cells acquire from their natural state.
Multicellular organism show emergent properties
Mutlicellular organisms show emergent properties.
For example; cells form tissues, tissues form organs, organs form organ systems and organ systems form multicellular organisms.
Whole is greater than the composition of its parts.
Stem cells
Adults have stem cells in the tissues of their bodies that need to be frequently replaced such as skin.
Stem cells have the ability to produce a wide range of cells which makes them pluripotent.
They retain the ability to provide and produce many different cells by cell division.
Therapeutic use of stem cells
- Recently, the most promising research has been directed towards growing large numbers of embryonic stem cells
- This is so that they can be used to replace differentiated cells lost due to injury and disease, involving therapeautic cloning.
- Parkinsons and alzheimers disease are caused by loss of brain cells
- It is proposed that implanted stem cells could replace many of these and thus relieve the disease symptoms
That is all! Well done!
References:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=http%3A%2F%2Fib.bioninja.com.au%2Fstandard-level%2Ftopic-1-cell-biology%2F11-introduction-to-cells%2Femergent-properties.html&psig=AOvVaw13DDV7XDcS7c-Ufj-_TY8o&ust=1627661869196000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCJDYxY7XiPICFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcommons.wikimedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFile%3AFinal_stem_cell_differentiation_(1).svg&psig=AOvVaw3NilH1GTJAG0Yr7nXPx3MB&ust=1627661976758000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCJC4-8XXiPICFQAAAAAdAAAAABAK
Drafted by Venetia (Biology)