Eukaryotic organisms express a subset of the DNA that is encoded in any given cell. In each cell type, the type and amount of protein is regulated by controlling gene expression.

While all somatic cells within an organism contain the same DNA, not all cells within that organism express the same proteins. Prokaryotic organisms express the entire DNA they encode in every cell, but not necessarily all at the same time.

DNA — first transcribed into RNA, which is then translated into proteins. gene expression — processes that control the turning on or turning off of a gene. nucleus and — separate from the translation that occurs in the cytoplasm. type and amount of protein — regulated by controlling gene expression.