A somatic cell is any biological cell forming the body of an organism; that is, in a multicellular organism, any cell other than a gamete, germ cell, gametocyte or undifferentiated stem cell. By contrast, gametes are cells that fuse during sexual reproduction, for organisms that reproduce sexually; Germ cells are cells that give rise to gametes; Stem cells are cells that can divide through mitosis and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types. For example, in mammals, somatic cells make up all the internal organs, skin, bones, blood, and connective tissue. By contrast, mammalian germ cells give rise to spermatozoa and ova which fuse during fertilization to produce a cell called a zygote, which develops into an embryo. Somatic cells are diploid.
The word "somatic" is derived from the Greek word sōma, meaning "body".
Read more about Somatic Cell: Genetics and Chromosome Content, Cloning
Famous quotes containing the words somatic and/or cell:
“Parents must not only have certain ways of guiding by prohibition and permission; they must also be able to represent to the child a deep, an almost somatic conviction that there is a meaning to what they are doing. Ultimately, children become neurotic not from frustrations, but from the lack or loss of societal meaning in these frustrations.”
—Erik H. Erikson (20th century)
“She that but little patience knew,
From childhood on, had now so much
A grey gull lost its fear and flew
Down to her cell and there alit,
And there endured her fingers’ touch
And from her fingers ate its bit.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)