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:
“A cell for prayer, a hall for joy,—
They treated nature as they would.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“It took six weeks of debate in the Senate to get the Arms Embargo Law repealed—and we face other delays during the present session because most of the Members of the Congress are thinking in terms of next Autumn’s election. However, that is one of the prices that we who live in democracies have to pay. It is, however, worth paying, if all of us can avoid the type of government under which the unfortunate population of Germany and Russia must exist.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)