Gene Regulation

Cell Differentiation & Cell Specialization

Open Ended

When you hear the word cell differentiation, what comes to mind?

Open Ended

What do you think controls whether a stem cell differentiates into a muscle cell, blood cell, or brain cell?

*Some genes are:

1. expressed at all times

2. expressed in certain environmental conditions.

3. expressed at particular times.

4. expressed only in certain kinds of cells.

Gene Expression is a REGULATED process!

Multiple Choice

How can a person's muscle cells have the same exact DNA sequences as their nerve cells even though the look and perform completely different?

• The two different cells become mutated

• The proteins expressed in each cell are different

• They actually have different DNA in the two types of cells.

• The genome of the different cells changes

Multiple Choice

The process by which a cell becomes specialized for a specific structure or function.

• cell multiplication
• cell division
• mitosis
• cell differentiation

Multiple Choice

Unspecialized cells that retain the ability to become a wide variety of specialized cells

• stem cell
• neuron
• brain cells
• dendrite

​Environmentalfactors, in this case temperature, is turning "on" or "off" of certin genes that code for fur color.

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​Himalayan Rabbit

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Multiple Choice

Why does the fox change color at different times of year?

• The alleles for fur color change as the fox grows older.

• The color is affected by the latitude of the animal.

• The color of the foxes are determined at birth.

• The genes that determine color is affected by temperature.

Multiple Choice

Gene Expression is

• The mutation of DNA to create specialized cells

• The turning on and off of genes by environmental factors

• The transforming of stem cells into specialized cells

• All of these