All cells in a living organisms share the same DNA but develop into different types of cells. What mechanism tells these cells which type of cell to become? How does it work?

Question

All cells in a living organisms share the same DNA but develop into different types of cells. What mechanism tells these cells which type of cell to become? How does it work?

In: Biology

Answer 1

The others here seem to be much more well versed on this subject, but I’m not sure that they answered your actual question. As 2 cells turn into 4 and continue to multiply, each one down the line starting from the first will secrete chemical signals that will be more concentrated near the cell secreting them and less as you move farther away. The different levels of each of the different chemical signals from each cell triggers the newly created cells to become a specific thing (arm, leg, kidney).

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6 would eventually become the right arm because it sees very little of 1 and 7 and a lot of 3 and 9. Something like that