A cell type is a classification used to distinguish between morphologically or phenotypically distinct cell forms within a species. A multicellular organism may contain a number of widely differing and specialised cell types, such as muscle cells and skin cells in humans, that differ both in appearance and function yet are genetically identical. Cells are able to be of the same genotype, but different cell type due to the differential regulation of the genes they contain. Classification of a specific cell types is often done through the use of microscopy and the analysis of molecules on the cell surface (such as those from the cluster of differentiation family that are commonly used for this purpose in immunology).
Read more about Cell Type: Single-celled Organisms, Multicellular Organisms, Humans
Famous quotes containing the words cell and/or type:
“What Mrs. Thatcher did for women was to demonstrate that if a woman had enough desire she could do what she wanted, do anything a man could do.... Mrs. Thatcher did not have one traditional feminine cell in her body.”
—Julie Burchill (b. 1960)
“Histories of the world omitted China; if a Chinaman invented compass or movable type or gunpowder we promptly “forgot it” and named their European inventors. In short, we regarded China as a sort of different and quite inconsequential planet.”
—W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt)