General Catalog 2023-24

Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisites: courses 138, 165A. State-of-art education of embryonic and adult stem cells and how these pluripotent/multipotent cells can be used to treat congenital defects, diseases, or injury in humans. Review of current knowledge of human and mouse embryonic stem cells and how they develop into various tissue types. Discussion of adult stem cells in hematopoietic, nervous, and other organ systems to provide examples of tissue-specific stem cells and their impact in human disease. Examination of various model organisms as examples of how model organisms have helped to discover fundamental principles in stem cell biology. How advances in cell and molecular biology and tissue engineering can be applied to use of stem cells in regenerative medicine. Ethical and legal issues related to stem cell research. Letter grading.