dedifferentiationn.
/ˌdiːdɪfərɛnʃɪˈeɪʃən/ Biology.
The loss or reversal of differentiation (see differentiation n. 2).
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dedifferentiation1917
1917 Amer. Jrnl. Anat. 22 188 Dedifferentiation or return to a more embryonic condition probably underlies all types of regeneration.
1927 J. B. S. Haldane & J. S. Huxley Animal Biol. ix. 179 Eventually they will lose almost all signs of their previous differentiated structure... They have lost differentiation—in other words, have undergone dedifferentiation.
1960 New Biol. 31 90 Tissue cells undergo an apparent de-differentiation to form the young regenerate or the bud.
Derivatives
ˌdediffeˈrentiate v. (intransitive) to undergo such a process.
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1917 Amer. Jrnl. Anat. 22 189 Champy..has maintained that most of the cells in the body dedifferentiate in tissue culture.
1927 J. B. S. Haldane & J. S. Huxley Animal Biol. ix. 180 When the tadpole metamorphoses into the frog, some of its tissues start to dedifferentiate.
ˌdediffeˈrentiated adj.
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1926 Glasgow Herald 18 Sept. 4 A good example of the dedifferentiated inert state of suspended animation is the ‘brown body’ of some of the moss-animals.
1926 J. S. Huxley Ess. Pop. Sci. 80 The sea squirt..can in unfavourable surroundings de-differentiate, or revert to an embryonic state.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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