Stemistry lab

A stem-cell glossary of terms

• A-M
• Blastocyst
  a ball of around 250 cells formed about five days after fertilisation
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  New starters
  Elastic band ball
  Jack's bag of magic beans
  Time-bomb
  5-day football
  Somebody's plan
  Having a ball
  Cycle bag
  Life-ball
  Life-basket
  Big-bang
• Cloning
  the process of making a genetically identical copy (a clone) by propagation, embryo splitting or, in the context of stem cells, by nuclear replacement. The latter involves replacing the nucleus of an unfertilised ovum with the nucleus of a cell from the organism to be cloned.
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  Scary
  Doppleganger
  Someone just like you
  Made from the same material
  A copy
  Once again
  As above. Ditto
  Identity-less
  Double
  Not real, wants to be real
• Cell nuclear replacement
  the nucleus of an egg cell is removed and replaced with the nucleus of another cell, which can be a germ cell or a somatic cell.
• Chromosome
  within cells the DNA is packaged into chromosomes
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  Shopping list item
  Dr Jekyll's key
  Blue-eyes-button
  Unknitted wool
  Gender-decider
  Identity mail-merge
  Witness for the prosecution
  Connected bows
  Defintive instruction
  Coiled wiring
  Rolled up socks
  Flat-pack instructions
• Cloned human embryos
  a term used to describe embryos which are produced using cell nuclear replacement
• Differentiation
  the process through which cells become specialised to perform certain tasks. When a cell can differentiate no more it is said to be terminally differentiated.
• DNA
  abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid, which makes up genes
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  An immense ladder of proteins and connections
  A flukey jigsaw in a spin or vortex
  Chasing the essence of you-ness
  Codes for propensities and potentials
  Guilty, not guilty
  Identity
  Duplicating Nature's Abilities
  To classify a human
  Unmistakable fingerprint
  Do Not Alter
• Embryonic stem cells
  stem cells from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst which will go on to produce every cell in the adult human body
• Gene
  a functional unit of heredity, which is a segment of DNA, located at a specific site on a chromosome. A gene often directs the formation of an enzyme or other proteins.
• Hematopoietic cells
  tissue stem cells from blood or bone marrow which can proliferate and differentiate into all blood cell types. They constantly renew blood (producing billions of new blood cells a day)
• In vitro fertilisation (IVF)
  the sperm fertilises the egg in the laboratory to create embryos which are then placed into the womb, hopefully to develop into a normal pregnancy.
• Multipotent cells
  stem cells able to give rise to a subset of fully differentiated cells.

• N-Z
• Partheno-
  genesis
  the activation of an egg without the involvement of sperm
• Patient-specific stem cell therapy or Therapeutic cloning
  the name ofteb given to a future technique involving a patient by producing genetically-matched somatic cells or stem cells. These replacement cells are derived from an intermediate embryo or blastocyst, which would be created for the purpose by cell nuclear replacement, using cells taken from the patient.
• Plasticity
  a measure of the extent to which a stem cell can form different types of terminally differentiated cells.
• Pluripotent cells
  capable of giving rise to all the cell types of a mature organism but not able to support development into an embryo.
• Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD)
  a term used to describe the genetic testing of embryos produced by IVF. The aim is to select embryos which possess a certain genetic make-up, usually the absence of a disease-causing gene or genes.
• Renewal cells
  tissue stem cells that supply new differentiated cells to tissues that are in a perpetual state of self renewal
• Reproductive cloning
  making a genetically identical copy of a whole organism. In mammals, this is when the embryo produced by cell nuclear replacement is implanted in the womb to produce an offspring genetically identical to the original animal.
• Somatic cell
  cells of the body other than the germ line (e.g. sperm and egg) cells.
• Somatic cell nuclear replacement (SCNR)
  a process by which the nucleus of an egg cell is removed and the nucleus of a somatic cell is transferred into the egg cell. Following fusion, an embryo is produced of the same principal genetic make-up as the indivdual from whom the somatic cell was taken. (Note that SCNR in mammals can generally be done more efficiently using germ cells).
• Stem cells (SCs)
  cells that can divide indefinitely (are never terminally differentiated) and can give rise to specialised cells
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  All-and-nothing key
  Needful co-operator
  Hope-giver
  Lost SAE
  Cure-promise
  Misheard joke
• Tissue stem cells (TS cells)
  Stem cells found in some adult (and foetal) tissue, used to replenish cells in the body, replacing those which naturally wear out. TS cells have also sometimes been referred to as adult stem cells.
• Totipotent cells
  cells which possess the ability to develop into an embryo which can then develop into a complete organism (including generation of a placenta).
  
• zygote
  a diploid, totipotent cell created when an egg and sperm fuse