Cell Differentiation
Get to grips with Cell Differentiation for GCSE Biology with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Foundation and Higher exam-style questions with worked answers for AQA, Edexcel and OCR. In animals most cells differentiate at an early stage, whereas many plant cells keep the ability to differentiate throughout the plant's life.
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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA, Edexcel and OCR specifications. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.
Topic overview
Differentiation is the process by which a cell becomes specialised for a particular job. As a cell differentiates, it develops different sub-cellular structures suited to that function.
The timing differs between animals and plants, and this distinction is examined regularly. In animals, most cells differentiate at an early stage of development, and cell division afterwards is mainly for repair and replacement.
In plants, many cells retain the ability to differentiate throughout life. This is why a cutting from a plant can grow into a whole new plant, and it is a key difference to be able to state clearly.
Revision notes
What happens during differentiation
The cell develops the sub-cellular structures it needs for its role — for example many mitochondria in a muscle cell, or a long projection in a root hair cell.
The cell's genes are the same; different genes are simply switched on or off, producing different proteins and therefore different structures.
Animals versus plants
In animals, most differentiation happens early in development. Once differentiated, the cell usually cannot change to another type.
In plants, many cells keep the ability to differentiate for the organism's whole life, which allows plants to be grown from cuttings.
Division after differentiation
In mature animals, cell division is mainly for repair and replacement of damaged or worn-out cells.
Stem cells retain the ability to differentiate and are the exception, which is why they are so useful in medicine.
Key points
- Differentiation is a cell becoming specialised.
- The cell develops sub-cellular structures suited to its function.
- Most animal cells differentiate early in development.
- Many plant cells can differentiate throughout life.
- Cell division in mature animals is mainly for repair and replacement.
- Stem cells retain the ability to differentiate.
Worked examples
Example 1
Define differentiation. [1 mark]
Model answer
Differentiation is the process by which a cell becomes specialised to carry out a particular function (1 mark).
Example 2
Describe one difference between differentiation in animal cells and in plant cells. [2 marks]
Model answer
Most animal cells differentiate at an early stage of development and then lose the ability to change (1 mark), whereas many plant cells retain the ability to differentiate throughout the life of the plant (1 mark).
Example 3
Explain why cells divide in a mature animal. [2 marks]
Model answer
Cell division in a mature animal is mainly for repair (1 mark) and for the replacement of cells that are damaged or worn out (1 mark).
Common mistakes
Confusing differentiation with cell division.
Division makes more cells; differentiation makes them specialised. They are separate processes.
Saying differentiated cells have different genes.
They have the same genes — different ones are switched on or off.
Stating that plant cells never differentiate.
They do differentiate; the point is that many retain the ability to do so throughout life.
Forgetting the repair-and-replacement role.
In mature animals this is the main reason cells continue to divide.
Exam tips
- Use the word specialised in your definition.
- Learn the animal-versus-plant timing difference — it is asked often.
- Keep differentiation and division clearly separate.
- Mention that genes are switched on or off rather than changed.
Key terms
- Differentiation
- The process by which a cell becomes specialised.
- Specialised cell
- A cell adapted to carry out a particular function.
- Sub-cellular structure
- A structure within a cell, such as a mitochondrion.
- Stem cell
- An undifferentiated cell able to become other cell types.
Related topics
Written and reviewed against the current AQA, Edexcel and OCR specifications. Spotted an error? Let us know.