ydoaPs Posted July 15, 2004 Share Posted July 15, 2004 What are the currrent theories on what causes differentiation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuhrerkeebs Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 Evolution occuring in different enviroments, natural selection in general, genetic mutation billions of years ago which--over time--magnified, and the list goes on and on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted August 13, 2004 Author Share Posted August 13, 2004 huh? that has nothing to do with differentiation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuhrerkeebs Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 Genetic differentiation deals with the genetic "differences" in a population. Everything I listed deals with genetic differentiation. If you are not referring to genetic differentiation, then let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted August 13, 2004 Author Share Posted August 13, 2004 differentiation as in a zygote. stem cells turning into other types of cells. ring any bells? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuhrerkeebs Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 Ah, you mean cellular differentiation. The mechanism that causes it is still unknown, but it is popular belief that it is caused by selective control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 I'm pretty sure one of my lecturers at uni went to great lengths explaining this but I am quite pissed right now so he can just shut up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted August 14, 2004 Author Share Posted August 14, 2004 I'm pretty sure one of my lecturers at uni went to great lengths explaining this but I am quite pissed right now so he can just shut up. what the hell was that about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 For you crazy Americans, over here "pissed" = mildly drunk and "pissed off" = what you call pissed. I hope that explains everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted August 14, 2004 Author Share Posted August 14, 2004 who is the "he"? that was my question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 The lecturer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skye Posted August 15, 2004 Share Posted August 15, 2004 What are the currrent theories on what causes differentiation? Chemical signals sent by surrounding cells that switch on or off certain genes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted August 15, 2004 Author Share Posted August 15, 2004 how does the origional mass of stem cells decide what will be which type of cell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skye Posted August 15, 2004 Share Posted August 15, 2004 The egg cell itself is polarised, one end has a higher concentration of things called fate determinants, which ... determine the fate of the different ends. Fairly often the initial cell division isn't equal as well, so one cell is bigger than the other. Everything is then based around that, and as the embryo grows further axes are defined (depending on the type of symmetry the critter has), then regions within these, and so on in increasing complexity. This isn't a statically growing ball of course, what with blastulation and gastrulation and further large cell movements, so controlling the cell movements is also important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frostrunner Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 You just asked a question that took an entire semester for me to learn (in too many different animal models). The short of it is like skye said. The egg is polarized by where the sperm enter and from there on out think of it as friends (cells) telling their nieghbors what to do and how to do it through the mechanism of cellular signaling and gene pathways that will make anyone tired of memorizing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ans Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 In simple terms is it correct to say that what determines what stem cells differentiate into is their environment (eg chemicals around the cell) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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