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In cellular biology, a somatic cell (from Ancient Greek σῶμα (sôma) ' body '), or vegetal cell, is any biological cell forming the body of a multicellular organism other than a gamete, germ cell, gametocyte or undifferentiated stem cell. [1] Somatic cells compose the body of an organism and divide through mitosis.
In cellular biology, the term somatic is derived from the French somatique which comes from Ancient Greek σωματικός (sōmatikós, “bodily”), and σῶμα (sôma, “body”.) [1] [2] is often used to refer to the cells of the body, in contrast to the reproductive cells, which usually give rise to the egg or sperm (or other gametes in other organisms).
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all forms of life. Every cell consists of cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane; many cells contain organelles, each with a specific function. The term comes from the Latin word cellula meaning 'small room'. Most cells are only visible under a microscope.
Such cells, called somatic cells, make up most of the human body, such as skin and muscle cells. Cells differentiate to specialize for different functions. [8] Germ line cells are any line of cells that give rise to gametes—eggs and sperm—and thus are continuous through the generations. Stem cells, on the other hand, have the ability to ...
In addition, stem cell are undifferentiated cells which can develop into a specialized cell and are the earliest type of cell in a cell lineage. [2] Due to the differentiation in function, somatic cells are found only in multicellular organisms, as in unicellular ones the purposes of somatic and germ cells are consolidated in one cell.
For example, in mammals, somatic cells make up the internal organs, skin, bones, blood, and connective tissue. [1] In most animals, separation of germ cells from somatic cells (germline development) occurs during early stages of development. Once this segregation has occurred in the embryo, any mutation outside of the germline cells can not be ...
Human somatic variations are somatic mutations (mutations that occur in somatic cells) both at early stages of development and in adult cells. These variations can lead either to pathogenic phenotypes or not, even if their function in healthy conditions is not completely clear yet.
Whatever may happen to those cells does not affect the next generation. The Weismann barrier, proposed by August Weismann, is the strict distinction between the "immortal" germ cell lineages producing gametes and "disposable" somatic cells in animals (but not plants), in contrast to Charles Darwin's proposed pangenesis mechanism for inheritance.