Stem cells are valuable in medicine because they

  • A. cannot be rejected by any patient
  • B. are found only in bone marrow
  • C. are unspecialised and can divide and differentiate into several types of cell
  • D. contain twice as many genes as ordinary cells

Explanation

Because they are not yet committed, stem cells can be directed to replace tissue that the body cannot regenerate, such as heart muscle after an infarction or nerve cells after injury, and bone marrow transplants already use them routinely. Embryonic stem cells can form any tissue but raise ethical objections, while adult stem cells are more limited in what they can become. Every cell of a person carries the same genes.

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