WHITE PAPER: Alternative Sources of Pluripotent Stem CellS
The President's Council on Bioethics
Washington, D.C.
May 2005
www.bioethics.gov
Glossary
Adult stem cell: An undifferentiated cell found in a differentiated
tissue that can renew itself and (with certain limitations) differentiate
to yield all the specialized cell types of the tissue from which
it originated. (NIH)
Altered Nuclear Transfer (ANT): A proposed method, using
a modified form of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), of producing
a biological artifact from which human pluripotent stem cells could
be derived.
Anencephalic fetus: A fetus with a congenital defect related
to development of the brain, with absence of the bones of the cranial
vault and absent or rudimentary cerebral and cerebellar hemispheres,
brainstem, and basal ganglia. (SMD)
Aneuploid: Having an abnormal number of chromosomes. (SMD)
Autologous: Derived or transferred from the same individual's
body.
Biological artifact: As employed here, this phrase denotes an
artificially created non-embryonic but embryo-like cellular system,
engineered to lack the essential elements of embryogenesis but still
capable of some cell division and growth.
Biopsy: Process of removing tissue from patients
for diagnostic examination. (SMD)
Blastocyst:In mammals, an early stage of embryonic
development at which the embryo (roughly 100-200 cells) is a hollow
sphere made up of an outer layer of cells (the trophectoderm), a
fluid-filled cavity (the blastocoel), and a cluster of cells on
the interior (the inner cell mass).
Blastomere: A cell contained within an early embryo (up
to two days after conception, at which point the embryo comprises
about 8 blastomeres).
Blastomere biopsy: Removal of one or two blastomeres from
the embryo in vitro at about the 8-cell stage, usually in order
to perform preimplantation genetic diagnosis and screening.
Blastula: An early stage of embryonic development (roughly
100-200 cells) at which the cells of the morula are rearranged to
form a hollow sphere; at this stage of embryonic development in
humans and other mammals, the embryo is generally called a blastocyst.
Bone marrow: The soft, fatty, vascular tissue
that fills most bone cavities and is the source of red blood cells
and many white blood cells.
Chimera:In experimental embryology, the individual produced
by grafting an embryonic part of one animal on to the embryo of
another, either of the same or of another species. (SMD)
Chromosomes:Structures inside the nucleus of
a cell, made up of long pieces of DNA coated with specialized cell
proteins, which are duplicated at each mitotic cell division. Chromosomes
thus transmit the genes of the organism from one generation to the
next. (CR)
Cleavage arrest: Spontaneous cessation of cell division
in an early embryo.
Cloned embryo: An embryo arising from the somatic cell
nuclear transfer process as contrasted with an embryo arising from the
union of an egg and sperm. (CR)
Cloning:
Cloning-to-produce-children-Production of a cloned human
embryo, formed for the (proximate) purpose of initiating a pregnancy,
with the (ultimate) goal of producing a child who will be genetically
virtually identical to a currently existing or previously existing
individual.
Cloning-for-biomedical-research-Production of a cloned
human embryo, formed for the (proximate) purpose of using it in
research or for extracting its stem cells, with the (ultimate) goals
of gaining scientific knowledge of normal and abnormal development
and of developing cures for human diseases.
Human cloning-The asexual reproduction of a new human
organism that is, at all stages of development, genetically virtually
identical to a currently existing, or previously existing, human
being. (CR)
Cord blood: Blood in the umbilical cord and placenta.
Cryopreservation and Cryostorage: Freezing of IVF
embryos for later use.
Cytoplasmic: Of or pertaining to the substance of a cell,
exclusive of the nucleus. (SMD)
Dedifferentiation: A procedure whereby differentiated,
somatic cells are restored to a more undifferentiated, multipotent
condition.
Diploid:Refers to the full complement of chromosomes
in a somatic cell, distinct for each species (forty-six in human
beings). (CR)
Embryo: (a) In humans, the developing organism from the
time of fertilization until the end of the eighth week of gestation,
when it becomes known as a fetus. (NIH) (b) The developing organism
from the time of fertilization until significant differentiation
has occurred, when the organism becomes known as a fetus. An organism
in the early stages of development. (CR)
Embryogenesis: That phase of prenatal development involved
in establishment of the characteristic configuration of the body
of the embryo; in humans, embryogenesis is usually regarded as extending
from the end of the second week to the end of the eighth week, after
which the product of conception is usually spoken of as a fetus.
(Based on SMD)
Embryonic germ layers: The three initial tissue layers
arising in the embryo-endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm-from which
all other somatic tissue-types develop. (NRC)
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs): Primitive (undifferentiated)
cells, derived from the inner cell mass of the embryo, that have
the potential to become a wide variety of specialized cell types.
(Based on NIH)
Enucleated oocyte: An egg cell from which the
nucleus has been surgically removed.
Ex vivo: Outside the body, frequently the equivalent
of "in vitro"; the opposite of "in vivo."
Fertilization: The process whereby male and female gametes
unite. (NIH)
Fetus: A developing human from usually two months after
conception to birth. (NIH)
Gamete:A reproductive cell (egg
or sperm). (CR)
Gene: A functional unit of heredity that is a segment of
DNA located in a specific site on a chromosome. A gene directs the
formation of an enzyme or other protein. (NIH)
Genome: The total gene complement of a set of chromosomes.
(SMD)
Genotype: The genetic constitution of an organism or a
group of organisms. (SMD)
Hydatidiform mole: An abnormality during pregnancy; a tissue
mass or growth that forms within the uterus as the result of a genetic
error during the fertilization process.
Implantation: The attachment of the blastocyst to the lining
of the uterus, and its subsequent embedding there. (Based on SMD)
In vitro fertilization (IVF): The union of an
egg and sperm, where the event takes place outside the body and
in an artificial environment (the literal meaning of "in vitro"
is "in glass"; for example, in a test tube). (CR)
Inner cell mass: The cluster of cells inside the blastocyst.
These cells give rise to the embryonic disk of the later embryo
and, ultimately, the fetus. (NIH)
IVF embryo: An embryo produced by in vitro fertilization.
Karyotype: The chromosome characteristics (number, shape,
etc.) of an individual cell or cell line, usually presented as a
systematized array in pairs. (SMD)
Lineage: The descendants of a common ancestor.
Mesenchymal stem cells: Cells from the immature embryonic
connective tissue. A number of cell types come from mesenchymal
stem cells, including chondrocytes, which produce cartilage. (NIH)
Morphology: Configuration or structure, shape.
Morula: An early stage of embryonic development (roughly
16-64 cells) at which the embryo is a solid spherical mass of cells,
resulting from the early cleavage divisions of the zygote; so called
because of its resemblance to a "little mulberry" (in Latin, morula).
Mosaic: Possessing two or more genetically different cell
types; an early embryo is said to be mosaic when some of
its cells exhibit chromosomal abnormalities while others appear
chromosomally normal.
Multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs): Cells isolated
from bone marrow that can be differentiated into cells with characteristics
of cartilage, fat, and bone.
Multipotent cell: A cell that can produce two or more different
types of differentiated cells; adult stem cells are multipotent.
Oocyte: Unfertilized egg cell.
Organismic death (of an embryo)-concept andcriterion:
As proposed by Landry and Zucker, the concept of organismic
death for an early-stage human embryo is defined by irreversible
loss of "the capacity for continued and integrated cellular division,
growth, and differentiation"; their proposed criterion for
determining organismic death is "irreversible cessation of cell
division in the embryo observed in vitro."
Parthenogenesis: A form of reproduction in which an unfertilized
egg develops into a new individual (SMD); the process of inducing
an unfertilized egg to initiate cell division.
Parthenote: The primary product of parthenogenesis; more
precisely, an unfertilized egg that has been activated to initiate
cell division.
Placenta: The oval or discoid spongy structure in the uterus
from which the fetus derives it nourishment and oxygen. (NRC)
Pluripotent cell: A cell that can produce all the cell
types of the developing body; embryonic stem cells, as well as the
inner cell mass cells of the blastocyst, are pluripotent.
Pluripotent stem cell: Any stem cell that has the same
functional capacity-that is, stable pluripotency-as an embryonic
stem cell, though not necessarily the same origin.
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD): A method of testing
IVF embryos for chromosomal or genetic disorders before they are
transferred to the uterus; typically one or two blastomeres are
removed for genetic testing at about the 8-cell stage of embryonic
development.
Somatic cell: Any cell of an organism other than the gametes.
(Based on SMD)
Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT): A method of cloning: transfer
of the nucleus from a donor somatic cell into an enucleated oocyte
to produce a cloned embryo.
Stem cells: Stem cells are undifferentiated
multipotent precursor cells that are capable both of perpetuating
themselves as stem cells and of undergoing differentiation into
one or more specialized types of cells. (CR)
Stem cell line: Stem cells which have been cultured under
in vitro conditions that allow proliferation without differentiation
for months to years. (NIH)
Superovulation: Drug-induced stimulation of a woman's ovaries
to produce many mature oocytes in a single menstrual cycle.
Teratoma: A tumor consisting of different types of tissue,
as of skin, hair, and muscle, caused by the development of independent
germ cells. (SMD)
Totipotent cell: A cell that can give rise to the entire
organism, including the extra-embryonic membranes; the fertilized
egg or zygote is totipotent.
Trophectoderm: In early embryos at the blastocyst stage,
the outer layer of cells that will give rise to the placenta.
Uterine transfer: Transfer of an IVF embryo to
a woman's uterus with a view to implantation and gestation.
Xenotransplantation: A transplant of tissue from an animal
of one species to an animal of another species.
Zygote: The diploid cell that results from the
fertilization of an egg cell by a sperm cell. (CR)
Definitions
marked "(CR)" are from the Council's report on human cloning (Human
Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry, Washington,
D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2002). Definitions marked "(NIH)"
are from the National Institutes of Health online stem cell glossary
at http://stemcells.nih.gov (accessed April 1, 2005). Definitions
marked "(NRC)" are from the National Research Council report,
Stem Cell Research and the Future of Regenerative Medicine
(Washington, D.C.: National Research Council, 2001). Definitions
marked "(SMD)" are from Stedman's Medical Dictionary.