Define cell specialization; what purpose does it serve in the developing embryo? What causes cell specialization to occur?
The miotic divisions of a fertilized egg give each newly cleaved cell a genotype identical to that of the parental cell. Yet, as the embryo develops, cell specialization occurs so that only a portion of any given cell's genetic potentialities are activated. Thus, cells that share the same chromosomes begin to serve different functions within the developing organism. The interaction of genetic materials with non-genetic factors controls this cellular specialization.
