...other than dramatically altered patterns of gene expression, alternative slicing, epigenetic marks, and irreversible differences in phenotype. Genetics is a small part of the picture and muscle cells don't have much in common with sperm or lymphocytes.
>so it doesn't matter who has the offspring
It matters quite a bit! Controlling who reproduces at what rate and to what homeostatic set-point is a pretty big preoccupation of the body's order. You wants billions of reproducing T-cells that recognize your recently acquired flu but don't want the same level of reproduction among T-cells that react with your gut bacteria. You also don't want uncontrolled proliferation of normally stable populations because then you get horrifying diseases like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibrodysplasia_ossificans_progr...
...other than dramatically altered patterns of gene expression, alternative slicing, epigenetic marks, and irreversible differences in phenotype. Genetics is a small part of the picture and muscle cells don't have much in common with sperm or lymphocytes.
>so it doesn't matter who has the offspring
It matters quite a bit! Controlling who reproduces at what rate and to what homeostatic set-point is a pretty big preoccupation of the body's order. You wants billions of reproducing T-cells that recognize your recently acquired flu but don't want the same level of reproduction among T-cells that react with your gut bacteria. You also don't want uncontrolled proliferation of normally stable populations because then you get horrifying diseases like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibrodysplasia_ossificans_progr...