With reference to ‘stem cells’, frequently in the news, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- 1.Stem cells can be derived from mammals only.
- 2.Stem cells can be used for screening new drugs.
- 3.Stem cells can be used for medical therapies.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
Stem cells are not limited to mammals. Insects such as Drosophila and plants such as Arabidopsis also have them. Stem cells are used in drug discovery and toxicity screening, and in therapies such as bone-marrow (haematopoietic) stem cell transplants. So only statements 2 and 3 are correct.
- ✗ 1. Stem cells occur in other animals, such as the fruit fly Drosophila, which has germ-line stem cells. They also occur in plants, where the shoot meristem holds stem cells. They are not confined to mammals.
- ✓ 2. Cell culture systems derived from stem cells are important for drug discovery and toxicity screening, as noted in India's National Guidelines for Stem Cell Research. So stem cells can be used to screen new drugs.
- ✓ 3. Stem cells are used in therapy. In a bone marrow transplant, stem cells from a healthy person are given to patients with blood cancers such as leukaemia, or with disorders such as thalassaemia.
Remember · Stem cells are found in plants and in many animals (e.g., Drosophila), not only mammals. Their uses include therapy (bone-marrow transplant), drug discovery and toxicity screening.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 9 Exploration, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- ICMR – National Guidelines for Stem Cell Research 2017 (Part 1) ↗ “This is important for drug discovery and toxicity screening.”
- NCERT Class 9 · Exploration, Chapter 3 “In a bone marrow transplant, stem cells from a healthy person are given to patients who have blood cancers like Leukemia or disorders, such as Thalassemia.”
- Stem cells in the light of evolution (PMC, US National Library of Medicine) ↗ “The homology between the piwi gene in Drosophila , which controls germ line stem cells, and the ZWILLE gene in Arabidopsis , which controls the stem cells of the shoot meristem”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2012, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·
