Your body is full of potential
The fertilised egg, the body’s master stem cell, can give rise to all other cell types, a
characteristic called totipotency (from Latin totus – “whole”, “entire” and potentia –
“ability”, “power”). Totipotency remains through the first few cell divisions (when a complete
split of the egg results in identical twins) but is lost soon after.
Pluripotent cells (plures – “several”) can develop into all types of cells except those that
form the amniotic sac and the placenta. An early embryo consists mainly of pluripotent stem
cells.
Multipotent cells can develop into any of a family of closely related cell types. For example,
the blood of adult humans contains multipotent stem cells that can develop into various
types of blood cells but not into neurons.