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How does the genetic information in a fertilized egg cell (an egg cell that has combined with a sperm cell) compare with the genetic information in the skin cells of the adult organism that develops from the fertilized egg cell?

The skin cells in the adult organism contain the same genetic information that was in the fertilized egg cell.
The skin cells in the adult organism still contain some of the genetic information that was in the fertilized egg cell, but not very much of the information.
Some of the skin cells in the adult organism contain all of the genetic information that was in the fertilized egg cell, but other skin cells contain just a little of the information.
None of the skin cells in the adult organism contains any of the genetic information that was in the fertilized egg cell.

Details
Performance
NGSS

Topic: Reproduction, Genes, and Heredity
Correct Answer: A
Misconceptions

Distribution of Responses

Chart showing distrubtion of responses for Item RH009002

Students Responding Correctly

Group	Correct	Total	Percent
Overall	1123	3408	33%
Grades
6–8	587	1988	30%
9–12	536	1420	38%
Gender
Male	547	1673	33%
Female	553	1678	33%
Primary Language
English	1025	3059	34%
Other	74	273	27%

View data table

Disciplinary Core Ideas: LS1.B In multicellular organisms individual cells grow and then divide via a process called mitosis, thereby allowing the organism to grow. The organism begins as a single cell (fertilized egg) that divides successively to produce many cells, with each parent cell passing identical genetic material (two variants of each chromosome pair) to both daughter cells. Cellular division and differentiation produce and maintain a complex organism, composed of systems of tissues and organs that work together to meet the needs of the whole organism.

Science Assessment

Item RH009002: A skin cell of an organism contains the same genetic information as the fertilized egg cell of that organism.