Key learning points

1. Most cells in multicellular organisms are specialised – they have structures that are adapted for the jobs the cells.
2. Multicellular organisms grow (make new cells by mitosis) and develop (make specialised cells to form tissues/organs).
3. Unspecialised cells become specialised through a process called differentiation.
4. During differentiation, particular genes in the cell’s genome are switched off or on.
5. Specialised cells only use particular genes, so only make the proteins needed for the job they are adapted to do.

Keywords

• Multicellular - Animal, plants and fungi made of more than one cell.

• Specialised cell - Cells with adaptations to carry out a particular function in a multicellular organism.

• Unspecialised cell - Cell with no specific function, but has the capability to turn into different types of cells.

• Differentiation - The process of an unspecialised cell becoming a specialised one through the mechanism of turning genes on and off.

• Gene - A short section of DNA that carries the genetic code to produce a protein.

Common misconception