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

You and your friends are working to assemble a lego village, with each person building their own structure

DNA is the manual that you all use, which contains the blueprint for every single building. Naturally, you (the cell) would only use a few pages of the manual while your friends use other pages.

At the start of the project, you and your friends communicate to determine who is building what. Cells can do a similar thing during development to tell its neighbouring cells what to be (what pages to use) – this starts as early as when you are only comprised of 8-cellsl