Download Stem Cells

Name: ________________________ Date: _________________ Per: ___
Genetics Science Learning Center – Stem Cells
Go to: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/. Click on the link that says “Stem Cells”. For all the links, either use ear
buds or click on the CC or the Show Text options to read the information.
Click the link for “The Nature of Stem Cells”.
1. What are specialized cells called? ____________________________________________________________
2. What is a stem cell? _______________________________________________________________________
3. What can a stem cell do? ___________________________________________________________________
4. When does development begin? _____________________________________________________________
5. One week after fertilization, the embryo is called ________________________________________________
6. Name the three layers and what they form.
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7. What are adult stem cells called? ____________________________________________________________
8. How do embryonic stem cells differ from somatic stem cells? _____________________________________
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9. Name six of the nine tissues where stem cells can be found? _______________________________________
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In the top left corner, click on “Stem Cells” to return the list. Click on “Go, Go, Stem Cells”.
Start by watching the video “What is a Stem Cell Niche”.
10. What is a stem cell niche? _________________________________________________________________
11. What do niches do? ______________________________________________________________________
Next, click on “Brain Cell Niche”.
12. What are the two areas where stem cells continue to make new neurons? What do they do?
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13. Before you drag and drop the keys, hover over the other parts of the brain. Name and describe three of them.
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Now – drag the keys and drop them in the hippocampus.
14. What happens when you pull the handle? _____________________________________________________
15. What does the signal from the stem cell do? ___________________________________________________
16. What are glial cells? ______________________________________________________________________
Congratulations! You just made a new neuron to help remember where you put your keys!
Go back to the body and click “Blood Cell Niche”.
17. Where are blood cells produced? ____________________________________________________________
18. What is hemoglobin? _____________________________________________________________________
19. How many hemoglobin molecules does each red blood cell contain? _______________________________
20. What must be done to complete transformation of a stem cell to a red blood cell? _____________________
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21. Name and describe the three types of blood cells.
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Go back to the body and click “Hair Follicle Cell Niche”.
22. On a typical day, your scalp loses _______ to _______ hairs.
23. What is the name of the protein that makes hair tough? __________________________________________
24. Where do cells start out? What happens next? _________________________________________________
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25. What happens when the skin gets scratched or cut? _____________________________________________
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Go back to the body and click “Intestinal Cell Niche”.
26. What are villi? What do they do?
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27. Where does the stem cell niche sit? __________________________________________________________
28. What is the new function of the cell? _________________________________________________________
29. Name the four different cell types that can be produced. _________________________________________
Go back to the body and click “Bone Cell Niche”.
30. What do the stem cells in this niche do? ______________________________________________________
31. What do osteoblasts do? ___________________________________________________________________
32. What is the most abundant protein in the body? ________________________________________________
33. What happens as the matrix grows? __________________________________________________________
Go back to Stem Cells at the top left corner. Click on “Stem Cells in Use”.
34. What is leukemia and how have stem cells helped people with leukemia? ____________________________
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35. What are two other types of stem cells that are being used in medical treatments? _____________________
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