Question

All the cells in a multicellular organism have the same genetic constitution, yet they function differently. How would you account for this

Answer 1

Even though all cells of a multicellular organism have the same set of genes, the set of proteins produced in different tissues is different and dependent on gene expression. Hence cells differentiate from each other based on which gene is expressed in which cell. Ultimately expression of genes leads to various differences seen among cells. Cells are programmed for expression of different genes based on their location as well as according to the need of the organism. Hence, all the cells in a multicellular organism have the same genetic constitution, yet they function differently.