This question lacks options, the complete question is: What do you think would have the greatest effect on the body—a harmful mutation in a pluripotent embryonic stem cell, or a harmful mutation in an adult multipotent stem cell?The correct answer is a harmful mutation in a pluripotent embryonic stem cell.
Explanation:
Pluripotent Stem Cells can self-renew and differentiate into any of the three germ layers, which are: the ectoderm, the endoderm and the mesoderm. These three germ layers subsequently differentiate to form all the tissues and organs within a human being. If during embryonic development, genetic mutations - alterations in genes - occur in the embryonic stem cell, they pass to daughter cells as a consequence of cell division, and an individual is generated whose cells differ at the genetic level. Multipotent stem cells are organospecific cells, that is, they can give rise to any type of cells but from a specific organ (a lung, a kidney or the brain). Their differentiation ends the moment they specialize and become a cell with a specific function within a specific tissue or organ. If there were a mutation in these cells, it would damage a specific designed tissue or organ.
