BIOLOGY 1A03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Embryonic Stem Cell, Histone Acetyltransferase, Dna Binding Site

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Biology
• Course: BIOLOGY 1A03
• Professor: Alastair Tracey Rosa Da Silva

Document Summary

All the cells in our body are derived from a single fertilized egg. At one point, as a zygote, all of our embryonic stem cells were identical. Early embryonic stem cells, have an almost unlimited ability to mature or differentiate into the many different cell types in the body. As a result, as adults, our bodies contain around 200 distinct cells types. Most of the different cells contain the exact same genetic information. From the final divisions that occur in early developmental cascades, cells are able to communicate with each other, and begin to engage in various genetic interactions that will regulate not only continual development, but also cellular differentiation. Development of a eukaryotic organism from a single fertilized zygote is dependent on the molecular communication between cells. Different embryonic cells will have different fates depending on the signals that are exchanged and which genes are switched on or off at specific times.