Waddington's landscape

Waddington's landscape is a visual metaphor for how biological cells develop into specific types. Imagine a rolling landscape with valleys and hills; a ball at the top represents a stem cell. As it rolls downhill, it can settle into different valleys, each representing a specialized cell, like a nerve or muscle cell. The shape of the landscape illustrates the developmental pathways and choices cells have. This model helps explain how cells differentiate and commit to specific functions during growth, and how various factors influence their developmental fate.