Cell Specialization

When building a house, a carpenter will use many different types of materials and tools that are best suited for each job. A piece of plywood cannot be used in the place of a beam to support the walls and roof of a house. A roofing nail would not be used to finish the kitchen cabinets. The same thing happens when the cells of the human body develop from a fertilized egg. Cells become specialized to do different jobs in the body, and to build different structures such as tissues and organs.

In this topic, you will investigate how cells become specialized and organized in multicellular organisms. You will also learn about the kinds of cells in the body that can turn into other types of cells, and the possible medical uses for these kinds of cells.

Essential Questions

• How do cells in the body become specialized?
• What are stem cells?
• What are the possible therapeutic uses of stem cells?