Waddington’s Epigenetic Landscape

Waddington’s Epigenetic Landscape is a visual metaphor for how cell development happens. Imagine a ball rolling down a hill with many branching paths; each path represents a different cell fate, like becoming a muscle cell or a nerve cell. As the ball rolls, it encounters ridges and valleys, guiding its direction, similar to how genes and environmental factors influence cell differentiation. This landscape illustrates that cell development is a dynamic process influenced by interactions within the cell, shaping how a cell becomes specialized while maintaining some flexibility until fully committed to a specific function.