Biology A-Level
somatic cells
What somatic cells means in Biology A-Level, as defined for AQA.
Definition of somatic cells
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Reference: AQA
Adult body cells, typically skin fibroblasts, from which iPS cells can be produced using appropriate protein transcription factors.
Topics that use somatic cells
- Most of a cell’s DNA is not translated (A-level only) (AQA A-Level)
Related terms
- cell specialisation
- cellular differentiation
- differentiation
- epigenetic silencing
- immune rejection and antigens
- induced pluripotency
- loss of potency
- pluripotent
Using somatic cells in the exam
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