Question

Differentiate between totipotent and pluripotent cells.

Answer 1

Hint:
Stem cells are the cells that are capable of renewing themselves. These cells are further characterized on the basis of the potency.

Complete answer:
Stem cells are characterized by their ability to regenerate themselves and produce various types of differentiated cells based on their potential of differentiation. They are classified as totipotent, pluripotent, multipotent, and unipotent, as demonstrated by their potential to generate a variety of cell lines.

Totipotent and pluripotent come under the category of stem cells. The main differences in these two cells are described in the table given below:

Characteristics	Totipotent cells	Pluripotent cells
Differentiation	These are the stem cells that can differentiate into any type of body cell.	Pluripotent are the stem cells that are capable of differentiating into any three types of germ layers.
Differentiation potential	They exhibit optimal potential of differentiation.	They are characterized by low potential of differentiation comparable to totipotent stem cells.
Derived during development	Totipotent cells are derived early during development.	The cells that come after the development of totipotent cells are pluripotent.
Examples	Spore and zygote are totipotent.	Embryonic stem cells and iPS are pluripotent.
Uses in research	They are less likely to be used in research.	They are more likely to be exploited in research since embryonic stem cells are easy to obtain

Note:
Pluripotent stem cells are formed from totipotent stem cells when their differentiation potential is reduced. The main difference between the two cells lies in their differentiation capacity.