differentiation
What differentiation means in Biology A-Level, as defined for AQA, OCR.
Definitions of differentiation
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Reference: AQA
The process in which a cell transcribes only part of its DNA and translates only the mRNA produced from those genes, and the proteins produced determine the structure and function it takes on.
Specialisation that usually involves changes in gene expression via transcription factors, not changes to the DNA base sequence.
The process by which unspecialised cells develop these adaptations, typically through selective gene expression.
Pluripotent cells can differentiate into any type of body cell.
Topics that use differentiation
- Most of a cell’s DNA is not translated (A-level only) (AQA A-Level)
- Structure of eukaryotic cells (AQA A-Level)
- Cell division, cell diversity and cellular organisation (OCR A-Level)
Related terms
- organ
- organ system
- tissue
- transcription factors
- anaphase
- Asexual reproduction and cloning
- cell specialisation
- cellular differentiation
Using differentiation in the exam
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