EVGENIS TOTIPOTENT EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS (ETESC®) (SWISS)

Totipotent Embryonic Stem Cells are one of the most important stem cells types because they have the potential to develop into any cell found in the human body. In human development, the egg cell in a woman and the sperm cell from a man fuse together to form a single cell called the zygote. The zygote divides numerous times and forms cells that are the precursors to the trillions of cells that will eventually constitute the human body.

It may sound rather complex and in a sense it is, when you consider that a simple cell has the potential to develop into a specialised one with a specific job in the body. It is simple, however, in that it’s a clear sequence of events that begins with an egg cell and a sperm cell. The zygote from that fusion of an egg cell and a sperm cell then begins cell divisions that are capable of forming the entire human body. It is these cells that are totipotent, so called because their potential is ‘total.’

Totipotent embryonic stem cells are perhaps the most versatile of the stem cell types. As explained, a totipotent zygote cell is created when a single celled sperm and egg unite. This totipotent fertilised egg has the potential to give rise to virtually all human cells, such as nerve or heart. It is during the early cell divisions in embryonic development that more totipotent cells are produced. Within several days, these totipotent cells divide and create replicas, therefore producing more totipotent cells. It is after approximately four days that the cells begin to specialise into pluripotent cells, which can go on to specialise further but can’t ever produce an entire organism as totipotent cells can. Basically, the pluripotent stem cell can do everything the totipotent one can except for creating an entire organism.