Early Embryonic Development and Cellular Differentiation

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and concepts related to early embryonic development and cellular differentiation.

Technical Medicine

A branch of biology that focuses on applying biological principles to medical science.

Transcriptional Regulators

Proteins that help control the expression of specific genes by binding to nearby DNA.

Cell Differentiation

The process by which a less specialized cell becomes a more specialized cell type.

Intracellular Signaling

Communication within cells that affects cellular responses to various stimuli.

Symmetry Breaking

The process that leads to the emergence of asymmetry in developing organisms.

Asymmetric Cell Division

A type of cell division that results in daughter cells with different sizes or fates.

Morphogen Gradient

A concentration gradient of a signaling molecule that influences cell fate.

Gastrulation

An early developmental process during which the embryonic layers are formed.

Ectoderm

The outermost layer of cells in an embryo that will develop into skin and nervous system.

Endoderm

The innermost layer of cells in an embryo that will develop into the gut and other organs.

Mesoderm

The middle layer of cells in an embryo that will develop into muscle, bone, and other tissues.

Somite Formation

The process wherein blocks of mesodermal tissue become segmented during development.

Induction

A process where one group of cells influences the development of neighboring cells.

Lateral Inhibition

A mechanism where a group of similar cells inhibit each other to create diverse cell types.

Cellular Memory

The ability of cells to retain information about past signals, impacting their future behaviors.

Pluripotency

The ability of a stem cell to develop into multiple cell types.

PAC6

A transcriptional regulator important for eye development across multiple species.

Blastula

A hollow sphere of cells that forms during early embryonic development after fertilization.

Dominance Effects

The sequence of actions and interactions that lead to definitive cellular fates and functions.