Stem cells in animals

I can explain what stem cells are, and give examples of where they are found in animals.

New

Year 10

OCR

Foundation

I can explain what stem cells are, and give examples of where they are found in animals.

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

An early animal embryo is made of unspecialised cells; these are embryonic stem cells.
Embryonic stem cells can differentiate to become all types of cells in the animal’s body.
As an animal develops into an adult, some cells remain unspecialised; these are adult stem cells.
Adult stem cells can differentiate to become most but not all types of cells in the animal’s body.
An example of adult stem cells in humans (e.g. in bone marrow; these can divide and differentiate to make blood cells).

Embryo - Formed from a zygote by cell division; it is the early stages of development.
Unspecialised cell - A cell with no specific function, but has the capability to turn into different types of cells.
Embryonic stem cell - A cell from an embryo which can differentiate into any type of cell.
Differentiation - The process of an unspecialised cell becoming specialised through the mechanism of turning genes on and off.
Adult stem cell - Can differentiate into related cells.

Adult stem cells don't exist or can differentiate in the same way as embryonic stem cells.

Give examples of adult stem cells and the types of cells they will differentiate into, using examples that pupils might be familiar with.

Turn the last task into a big research task of different adult stem cells, pupils could present it or make a poster.

Teacher tip

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).