Stem cell asymmetry refers to:
Asymmetry elegantly describes fundamental process generating cellular diversity from one parental stem cell during renewal. It refers specifically to division producing one daughter retaining mother stem identity with intact self-renewal machinery including telomerase and niche adhesion, and another losing stem markers entering differentiation program toward particular tissue type such as keratinocyte or erythrocyte. Intrinsic polarity Par complex and extrinsic niche gradients orchestrate determinant segregation. Processes producing only committed progenitors or multiple lineages simultaneously or loss without preservation do not capture balanced self-preservation coupled with differentiation output.
Ref: Knoblich, Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2010; Gilbert, Chapter 6: Asymmetry producing stem and differentiated daughters mechanism.