OCR General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Biology Practice Exam

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Which process is involved in forming embryonic stem cells from a body cell?

Mitosis
Diffusion
Transcription
Somatic cell nuclear transfer

The correct answer is: Somatic cell nuclear transfer

The process involved in forming embryonic stem cells from a body cell is somatic cell nuclear transfer. This technique involves taking the nucleus from an adult somatic cell and transferring it into an enucleated egg cell (an egg cell that has had its nucleus removed). This action essentially reprograms the somatic cell into a pluripotent state, allowing it to develop into an embryo that can generate various cell types, much like embryonic stem cells. The other processes mentioned do not lead to the formation of embryonic stem cells in this context. Mitosis is the process of cell division that results in two identical daughter cells and does not involve reprogramming a nucleus. Diffusion is a passive transport mechanism for the movement of substances across a membrane and is unrelated to cellular reprogramming or stem cell formation. Transcription is the process by which genetic information is copied from DNA to RNA, more relevant to gene expression than to the creation of embryonic stem cells from body cells.