Stem Cells and Differentiation

Note Packet

Lesson Topic Statement(s) and Objective(s) Activities
1 Differentiation

1.1.U5:  Specialized tissues can develop by cell differentiation in multicellular organisms .

  • Define tissue.

  • Outline the benefits of cell specialization in a multicellular organism.

  • Define differentiation.


1.1.U6:  Differentiation involves the expressions of some genes and not others in a cell.

  • Describe the relationship between cell differentiation and gene expression.

Differentiation notes

Differentiation Reading - Nature

Differentiation reading - Scitable

Differentiation review

Differentiation CFU

A&B  Which came first… differentiation or multicellularity?

A&B:  Radiolab “The Primitive Streak”

A&B:  Origins of Cell Types

A&B:  Simple Gene Circuits Hint at How Stem Cells Differentiate
2 Stem Cells

1.1.U7:  The capacity of stem cells to divide and differentiate along different pathways is necessary in embryonic development and also makes stem cells suitable for therapeutic uses .

  • Define zygote and embryo.

  • List 2 key properties of stem cells that have made them on the active areas of research in biology and medicine today.

  • Explain why stem cells are most prevalent in the early embryonic development of a multicellular organism.

  • Define totipotent, multipotent and pluripotent.

Stem Cells Scitable

Stem cells potency triangle

Old notes:  

Stem cells CFU

Images for ordering development

Review of stem cells

Onion propagation lab 

Stem Cells Data Nugget

A&B:  Planaria stem cells

A&B:  Woman Finds Cord Blood Donor via blood test (questions)

A&B: Meet the Sea Slugs That Chop Off Their Heads and Grow New Bodies
3 Stem Cell Therapies

1.1.A3:  Use of stem cells to treat Stargardt’s disease and one other named condition.

  • Outline the cause and symptoms of Stargardt’s disease.

  • Explain how stem cells are used in the treatment of Stargardt’s disease.

  • Outline the cause and symptoms of leukemia.

  • Explain how stem cells are used in the treatment of leukemia.

Stargardt's Article

A&B: Could you recover from illness ... using your own stem cells?
4 Stem Cell Ethics

1.1.A4:  Ethics of the therapeutic use of stem cells from specially created embryos, from the umbilical cord blood of a newborn baby and from an adult’s own tissues.

  • Contrast the characteristics of embryonic, umbilical cord and adult somatic stem cells.

  • List the source and mechanism of obtaining stem cells.

  • Discuss the benefits and drawbacks in using embryonic, cord blood and adult stem cells. 


1.1.NOS2:  Ethical implications of research- research involving stems cells in growing in importance and raises ethical issues.

  • Explain why biological research must take ethical issues into consideration.

Stem cells and ethics CFU

Stem Cell Socratic Seminar

Stem Cell Recorded Discussion

What do you think? Survey

Abandoned Embryos From Fertility Treatment Create Ethical Dilemma | TODAY 

A&B:   Battle Over Frozen Embryo (questions)

A&B:  Egg Engineers (article and questions)
5 Cloning

3.5.U5:  Clones are groups of genetically identical organisms, derived from a single original parent cell.

  • Contrast sexual and asexual reproduction.

  • Define clone and cloning.

  • Describe different ways in which natural clones can arise.

3.5.U7:  Animals can be cloned at the embryo stage by breaking up the embryo into more than one group of cells.

  • Describe the process of reproductive cloning via embryo splitting.

  • Outline example of cloning animal embryos via natural and artificial embryo splitting. 


3.5.U8:  Methods have been developed for cloning adult animals using differentiated cells.

  • Describe the process of cloning via somatic cell nuclear transfer.


3.5.A4:  Production of cloned embryos produced by somatic-cell nuclear transfer.

  • Outline the production of Dolly the sheep using somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Cloning notes

Cloning timeline challenge (need to update)

SCNT handwritten notes

Natural Cloning notes

Diagram of natural cloning

Natural cloning CFU

Cloning debrief

SCNT handwritten notes

SCNT slides

SCNT CFU

SCNT Storyline

A&B:  Human Cloning Advance (questions)
6 Wrap Up and Review  

Kahoot

Final Knowledge audit

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