parent cell

American  

[pair-uhnt sel] / ˈpɛər ənt ˈsɛl /

noun

plural

parent cells

1. Biology. mother cell.

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parent cell Scientific  

/ pâr′ənt /

1. A cell that is the source of other cells, as a cell that divides to produce two or more daughter cells, or a stem cell that is a progenitor of other cells or is the first in a line of developing cells.

2. Also called mother cell

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Example Sentences

During mitosis, the parent cell will duplicate its chromosomes in order to pass down the genetic material to the daughter cells.

From Science Daily • May 13, 2024

If the chromatin is already folded into a 3D shape, marks will accumulate in regions that already had modifications inherited from the parent cell.

From Science Daily • Nov. 16, 2023

Sometimes cell division is interrupted midstream, and the replicated DNA gets stuck in the parent cell instead of being divided between daughter cells.

From Science Magazine • Aug. 23, 2023

Over and over, small, uncorrected errors are passed from parent cell to daughter cells and accumulate as each generation of cells produces more non-functional proteins from uncorrected DNA damage.

From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013

It is from the progeny of this parent cell that we take our looks; we still share genes around, and the resemblance of the enzymes of grasses to those of whales is a family resemblance.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas