Discover stem cells

By the end of this lesson,

you should
Know what a stem cell is
Know about different types of stem cells
and where they are
Know why stem cells are important

What were going to do

today
Stem cell decision maker in groups
Talk more about stem cells
Types of stem cells in groups
Summary
Your feedback

What stem cells can do

What is a stem cell?

Use the decision maker to
find out
Whats under the flap?
Stem cell take another blood
stem cell
Any other cell put your blood
stem cell in the cup with that cell
type on it
You can only play if you still have a stem cell
token!

hy self-renew AND differentiate?

1 stem cell

4 specialized
cells
1 stem
cell
Self renewal
makes sure stem
cells dont run out

Differentiation - replaces dead or damage

cells throughout your life

cells in your body = Tissue stem

surface of the eye
skin
muscles

brain
breast
intestines (gut)

bone marrow

d stem cells: A type of tissue stem

blood stem
cell

found in
bone marrow

differentiation
white
blood
cells

red
blood
cells

only specialized types

of blood cell

lood stem cells in action

The blood challenge

How hard do your
blood stem cells
work?
Lets find out!

ood stem cells have a big job!

Image by Beeblebrox

If you lined up all the

red blood cells from
your body, how far
would they stretch?
Nearly 4 times around
the earths equator

Making red blood cells

How long does it take your
body to make 2 million red
blood cells?

How quickly can you

count to 2 million?

1, 2, 3, 4...

Making red blood cells

We counted to
20 in

To count to 2 million
it would take

2 seconds

2 days

3 seconds

3 days

4 seconds

5 days

5 seconds

6 days

6 seconds

7 days

To make 2 million red

blood
cells it takes your body

1 second!

r body is more than just blood!

tem cells in your body

Cell families
Shuffle and deal the cards face
down.
The player to the left of the dealer
starts.
On your turn, choose a card you
dont want and give it to the person
on your left.
When you are given a new card: If
youve got a family of 4, put it down
on the table for everyone to see.
Then choose a card to give to the
Keeponityour
moving!
person
left. You only have

a short time
to going
play.until
Canthe
your
group
be the first to get
Keep
cards
are used
all the families?
up.

tem cells in your body

Where are the

stem cells in your
body?

Embryonic stem cells

skin

embryonic stem cells

ES cells can make many

kinds of specialised cells
in the lab!

neurons

liver

What weve learnt today

Stem cells can:
Self-renew
Differentiate

= copy themselves
= make other types of cell

There are different kinds of stem cell:

Tissue stem cells in our bodies all our lives

only make particular cell types
Embryonic stem cells
in the early embryo
can make all the cells of the body

We need stem cells to

Replace cells that die or get damaged

In the future, we might use them to treat diseases or test
drugs