Key points:
- Gene regulation is the process of controlling which genes in a cell’s DNA are expressed (used to make a functional product such as a protein).
- Different cells in a multicellular organism may express very different sets of genes, even though they contain the same DNA.
- The set of genes expressed in a cell determines the set of proteins and functional RNAs it contains, giving it its unique properties.
- In eukaryotes like humans, gene expression involves many steps, and gene regulation can occur at any of these steps. However, many genes are regulated primarily at the level of transcription.
Introduction
Your amazing body contains hundreds of different cell types, from immune cells to skin cells to neurons. Almost all of your cells contain the same set of DNA instructions – so why do they look so different, and do such different jobs? The answer: different gene regulation!