Why do different cells have different functions?

Cells of various types have different functions because cell structure and function are closely related. Just as there are many cell types, there are varied cell functions. The generalized cell functions include movement of substances across the cell membrane, cell division to make new cells, and protein synthesis.

Why do all of these cells look different from each other and have different organelles?

Cells have to fulfill multiple different functions to be able to build complex multicellular organisms. Differently expressed genes lead to different proteins made in the cell, which leads to different morphology, shape or function.

How do cells become different from one another?

Cell differentiation is how generic embryonic cells become specialized cells. This occurs through a process called gene expression. During cell differentiation, the cell size and shape changes dramatically, as does its ability to respond to signaling molecules.

How do different cells perform different functions once differentiated?

Transcription factors can turn on at different times during cell differentiation. As cells mature and go through different stages (arrows), transcription factors (colored balls) can act on gene expression and change the cell in different ways. This change affects the next generation of cells derived from that cell.

How do cells know to differentiate?

| Cell fate means that a stem cell “makes a decision” to differentiate into a more mature cell type. Signals from the environment—chemicals, extracellular proteins/hormones/factors, neighboring cells, the physical environment—converge on the cell, typically activating a signaling cascade that leads to gene expression.

What happens when a cell differentiates?

How do cells differ from each other?

Barring a few exceptions, all cells contain exactly the same genetic information, but they differentiate according to the role they are required to play in the body; less specialised cells become more specialised according to the genes being expressed. Stems cell cans differentiate into any other kind of cell.

How most cells can have the same genetic content and yet have different functions in the body especially during development?

Gene regulation is how a cell controls which genes, out of the many genes in its genome, are “turned on” (expressed). These different patterns of gene expression cause your various cell types to have different sets of proteins, making each cell type uniquely specialized to do its job.

How does cell differentiation relate to gene expression?

Cell differentiation is how generic embryonic cells become specialized cells. This occurs through a process called gene expression. Gene expression is the specific combination of genes that are turned on or off (expressed or repressed), and this is what dictates how a cell functions.

Why do some cells look different than other cells that are right next to them?

In order for cells to become whole organisms, they must divide and differentiate. Cells divide all the time. All the cells contain the same genetic material and all of them are from one original cell that started as a fertilized egg, but they look different and act different from one another. This is differentiation.