Embryonic stem cells are totipotent while adult stem cells are merely multipotent or pluripotent
Evidence
- ‘‘Multipotence’’ and ‘‘pluripotence’’ characterize adult stem cells, which are to be distinguished from embryonic stem cells. The latter are called ‘‘totipotent’’ to the extent that they can develop into practically the entire set of two hundred known types of cells that form a large range of tissues and organs, such as the heart, the pancreas, and the nervous system. Embryonic stem cells are therefore capable of giving birth to a complete individual. — Catherine Malabou, What Should We Do with Our Brain?, 290
Categorization
- DEFINE: Distinguishes multipotence, pluripotence, and totipotence as stem-cell capacity levels.
- XREF: Feeds the plasticity-vs-flexibility distinction: totipotence as full self-giving ‘open’ plasticity per Malabou’s own framing.