title: Making sense of cell lineage.
abstract: In this article I describe what I see as the sources of confusion in the description and interpretation of cell lineage data. I concentrate on lineage in the nervous system, since that is my interest, but most of the arguments are broadly applicable. Since there are these differences between workers in the field, all will not agree with my perspective, but perhaps a consensus can evolve from the discussion. I see the problem as having two facets: First, there is a confusion surrounding terminology, which leads to too many different types of studies to be considered as studies of cell lineage; and second, there is some confusion about what can validly be concluded from a study of cell lineage.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Medical Research, London, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Price
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002642:Chick Embryo; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D009420:Nervous System / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology; D011533:Proviruses / Q000235:genetics; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000382:microbiology; D016662:Virus Integration
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral