in biology, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various cell types
stem cells can undergo cellular differentiation and use cell proliferation to produce more of the same stem cell
self renewal means a stem cell can produce both a differentiated cell and a copy of itself
potency measures the stem cell’s capacity to differentiate into different cell types
- totipotent - can differentiate into any type
- pluripotent - can differentiate into multiple cell types
- multipotent - can differentiate into a limited number of specialized cell types belonging to a specific tissue or organ
- unipotent - can only produce only one cell type but have the property of self-renewal that distinguishes them from non-stem cells