Stem cells undergo mitosis and have the unique capacity for self-renewal — each division can produce one daughter cell that differentiates and one that remains a stem cell (asymmetric division), or both can remain stem cells (symmetric division). Meiosis is restricted to germ cells (gamete production) and results in haploid cells. Stem cells maintain pluripotency or multipotency through mitotic divisions regulated by transcription factors like Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog.