What do the terms Totipotent, Pluripotent and Multipotent mean?
“Stem cells” is a term used to describe all cells that can give rise to cells of multiple tissue types. However, there are different types of stems cells. Totipotent cells, like the cells of a fertilized egg in the first few days after fertilization, can give rise to a fully functional organism. During normal development, the Totipotent cells become more specialized and are considered Pluripotent, meaning that they can give rise to every cell type in the body, but will not give rise to the placenta or supporting tissues necessary for fetal development. Because their potential is not total, they are not Totipotent and they are not embryos. Pluripotent stem cells undergo further specialization into stem cells committed to giving rise to cells that are specialized for a particular function. Multipotent cells can give rise to the cell types found in the tissue from which they were derived, such as blood stem cells that give rise only to red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, or
