Differentiation: Basics
- Structural differences between different types of cells enables them to perform specific functions within the organism
- Cell differentiation is an important process by which a cell changes to become specialised
- Cells that have not differentiated are therefore unspecialised. As an organism develops, cells differentiate to form different types of cells
- Almost all of the cells in a multicellular organism will contain the same genetic information (the same genes or alleles), but depending on what role one particular cell needs to have, only some of the total sum of genes in a particular cell are used to control its development
- When a cell differentiates, it develops a structure and composition of subcellular structures which enables it to carry out a certain function
- To form a nerve cell the cytoplasm and cell membrane of an undifferentiated cell must elongate to form connections over large distances
Diagram showing the differentiation of a human cell