Battle of the Cells - A Comic Strip about Cell Differentiation

I am a blood cell and every time I deliver oxygen to bone cells they make fun of me because I am different. Loser…you look like a donut.

1.

Mom, I just don’t get it. The bone cells always make fun of me. Why do we have to look different?

Just ignore them. You look different because you have a different job. They are jealous because you are important; you deliver oxygen.

We aren’t specialized yet; we are called stem cells. What tissue team should we join?

I am changing sides…red blood cells help me too much.

vs. You can’t do that.

I can’t ignore them. It’s time for battle.

Why do bone cells and blood cells look different (have a different structure)?

This is ridiculous. We are all related, we should not be fighting.

2. Once a human cell has been differentiated, can it change to a different type of cell? We are related?

3.

What is the name for a cell that is unspecialized?

4.

Explain what the blood cell means when he says, “We are all related.”

5. How do cells become different? What determines what type of cell they will become?

6.

Why is differentiation important (besides it being boring if all cells were the same)?

Well, we become different through a process called ______________. Plus, it would be boring if we were all the same.

If we are related, shouldn’t we look more alike?

Who decided to make me a bone cell?