Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Relating to a cell, especially a fertilized egg, that is capable of differentiating into an unlimited number of specialized cell types.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Exhibiting or characterized by totipotence.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective biology Exhibiting totipotency

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective having the ability to give rise to unlike cells

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Studies of testicular teratomas showed that these tumours contain totipotent cells.

    The 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - Advanced Information 2007

  • The first cells to arise from a fertilized ovum are described as totipotent ( "potent for everything").

    Autotomous Penes & Endless War 2009

  • But this whole idea that there are three different types of cells out there -- there are what as known as totipotent cells which come from the very earliest stages of an embryo -- they can develop into anything, including another human being.

    CNN Transcript Jun 20, 2007 2007

  • These are so-called totipotent cells, meaning that they have ability to differentiate, or diversify, into any type of cell.

    IOL: News 2009

  • These are so-called totipotent cells, meaning that they have ability to differentiate, or diversify, into any type of cell.

    IOL: News 2009

  • They have not usually been described as totipotent because, the inner cell mass having already differentiated from trophoblast, the cells of the inner cell mass were believed to be no longer able to give rise to the cells of the trophoblast.

    CreationWiki - Recent changes [en] 2009

  • They have not usually been described as totipotent because, the inner cell mass having already differentiated from trophoblast, the cells of the inner cell mass were believed to be no longer able to give rise to the cells of the trophoblast.

    CreationWiki - Recent changes [en] 2009

  • They have not usually been described as totipotent because, the inner cell mass having already differentiated from trophoblast, the cells of the inner cell mass were believed to be no longer able to give rise to the cells of the trophoblast.

    CreationWiki - Recent changes [en] 2009

  • That statement is also misleading since ASCs are limited because they are multipotent but not totipotent - they can form some, but by no means all of the different kinds of cells in the body.

    Robert Klitzman, M.D.: Conservatives Killing Research That Could Potentially Save Millions of Americans 2010

  • While each somatic stem cell of the adult organism is committed to a certain line of differentiation, the early embryo contains stem cells that are totipotent, i.e. they give rise to all cell types in the developing organism.

    The 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - Advanced Information 2007

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