Presentation on theme: "Introducing stem cells. This presentation is intended as a flexible tool for scientists, science communicators and educators. Not all the slides will."— Presentation transcript:
This presentation is intended as a flexible tool for scientists, science communicators and educators. Not all the slides will be useful for any one occasion. Choose the ones most suitable for your audience, mix them with your own slides, or just use the diagrams. Dear speaker… Presenter’s notes Each slide in the Basics and Cloning sections includes notes that give a simple, jargon- free explanation of the key points. The more detailed slides in the last section have much briefer notes and assume some knowledge of stem cell science. Further information and resources The 15-minute film, “A Stem Cell Story” provides an excellent introduction to stem cells and covers many of the concepts presented here. See www.eurostemcell.org/filmswww.eurostemcell.org/films Got a question or a comment? Contact us at http://www.eurostemcell.org/contacthttp://www.eurostemcell.org/contact Contents Stem cell biology basics: For school students aged 16+, or adult public with little or no scientific knowledge Cloning: For adult public with little or no scientific knowledge; initial slides also suitable for students aged 16+ Stem cell biology in more detail: For informed non-specialist audiences, e.g. clinicians, scientists working in fields other than stem cell biology.
Tissue stem cells: Where we find them muscles skin surface of the eye brain breast intestines (gut) bone marrow testicles
Tissue stem cells: What they can do MULTIPOTENT blood stem cell found in bone marrow differentiation only specialized types of blood cell: red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets
Types of stem cell: 3)Induced pluripotent (iPS) stem cells
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) cell from the body ‘genetic reprogramming’ = add certain genes to the cell induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell behaves like an embryonic stem cell Advantage: no need for embryos! all possible types of specialized cells culture iPS cells in the lab differentiation
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) cell from the body (skin) genetic reprogramming pluripotent stem cell (iPS) differentiation
Stem cell jargon Potency A measure of how many types of specialized cell a stem cell can make Pluripotent Can make all types of specialized cells in the body Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent Multipotent Can make multiple types of specialized cells, but not all types Tissue stem cells are multipotent
There are two VERY different types of cloning: Reproductive cloning Use to make two identical individuals Very difficult to do Illegal to do on humans Molecular cloning Use to study what a gene does Routine in the biology labs gene 1 gene 2
Reproductive cloning remove nucleus and take the rest of the cell egg take the nucleus (containing DNA) cell from the body Clone identical to the individual that gave the nucleus Dolly the sheep
Molecular cloning: Principles gene 1 gene 2 2) Make a new piece of DNA gene 1 gene 2 1) Take DNA out of the nucleus cell 1cell 2 gene 1 gene 2 3) Put new DNA into a test cell and grow copies gene 1 cell divides Daughter cells contain same DNA: Genes 1 and 2 have been cloned gene 2 insert new DNA
Molecular cloning: Applications Normal mouse embryo gene A missing remove a gene to see if anything works differently Loss of function gene is involved in giving the eye its colour eye Reporter gene add a gene that shows us when another gene is working gene is active in blue areas only Lineage tracing mark a group of cells to see where their daughter cells end up gene is passed on to cells all over the body
Stem cell niches Direct contact Soluble factors Intermediate cell stem cell niche Niche Microenvironment around stem cells that provides support and signals regulating self-renewal and differentiation
Credits Picture credits Many thanks to the following people for permission to reproduce images: Slide 17, iPS cells: Keisuke Kaji, University of Edinburgh, UK Slide 27, blood cell diagrams: Jonas Larsson, Lund Univeristy, Sweden Slide 29, intestinal cell diagrams: Hans Clevers and Nick Barker, Hubrecht Institute, The Netherlands Should you wish to re-use any of the images listed above, please contact the owner. All other images in this presentation can be re-used freely. Acknowledgements Particular thanks to Dr Christele Gonneau for creating these slides and working tirelessly to help ensure the notes are correct. Thanks also to Freddy Radtke of EPFL, Switzerland, whose slide we copied to make slide 27 on tissue stem cells.