Question:medium

Assertion (A): Haemopoitic stem cells are multipotent cells.
Reason (R): They can produce different types of related cells, namely, blood cells.

Show Hint

Remember potency hierarchy:
Zygote = Totipotent
Embryonic stem cells = Pluripotent
Hematopoietic/Adult stem cells = Multipotent
Updated On: Jul 22, 2026
  • Both (A) and (R) are true. (R) is correct explanation for (A)
  • Both (A) and (R) are true. (R) is not correct explanation for (A)
  • (A) is true. But (R) is false
  • (A) is false. But (R) is true
Show Solution

The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Recall the potency scale of stem cells.
Stem cells range from totipotent, which can build an entire organism, to pluripotent, which can form any germ layer cell, down to multipotent, which is restricted to one lineage of related cell types.
Step 2: Place hematopoietic stem cells on this scale.
These bone marrow cells are already committed to the blood lineage, so they cannot become, say, nerve or muscle cells, which rules out totipotent or pluripotent labels.
Step 3: Confirm what they can still do.
Within the blood lineage they still branch into red cells, white cells and platelets, exactly the behavior expected of a multipotent cell, and this is also why they are said to produce different related blood cell types.
Final answer: Option 1, both statements are true and R correctly explains A.
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