Cell division, specialisation and stem cells - Intro

A grown body is made of trillions of cells, in hundreds of different kinds. Nerve cells that carry signals, muscle cells that pull, skin cells that wear away and are replaced all the time. Every one of them descends from a single starting cell. This is Cell division, specialisation and stem cells, for GCSE Biology, and it follows that one cell to a working body.

The whole topic is one story. A cell copies itself, the copies take on jobs, those cells are built up into tissues, organs and systems, and a few cells are kept back that can still become almost anything. Each step leans on the one before, so if you are starting fresh, go in order. If part of the story is familiar, pick it up at the first place that feels shaky.

Mitosis and the cell cycle is where to begin, and every course sets it. The common slip there is putting the copying of the chromosomes in the wrong stage, so this video lays the stages out as a chain where the order explains itself. Cell differentiation and how organisms grow is next, or first if mitosis is already solid. A common slip is mixing up differentiation with a specialised cell, and this video keeps the two words apart. It also shows why a plant can keep growing for life while most animal cells stop early. Cell specialisation is the one for the named cells and why each is built the way it is. Go straight to it if division and differentiation are clear, because it teaches you to predict a feature from the job, which also handles a cell you have never met. Levels of organisation: cells, tissues, organs and organ systems is printed as a statement of its own by some courses. If yours is not one of them, watch it anyway, because the heart and leaf videos later in the course use its words for everyone. Stem cells and meristems is the one to press if stem cells are what brought you here. It weighs a treatment against its risks, and it shows why copying a plant is routine in a nursery. You can search for any video by its name or its code, and the codes are right there on the list. The quickest way is the scholafly.com website, which indexes every video in every subject.

Next in the chapter is Mitosis and the cell cycle. Hopefully that's next in your feed, but if not, search for ScholaFly B I oh two, oh one.

Every other video is on scholafly.com too, easy to search by video code or by keyword. Whatever you're revising, go there and have a look, or, watch the next video.