somatiske

Somatiske is an adjective used in biology and medicine to describe anything pertaining to the body, as opposed to the mind, reproduction, or other domains. The term is derived from the Greek soma, meaning "body," and is used in several languages such as Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, and German with similar meaning.

In biology, somatic generally refers to cells or tissues of the body that are not involved in reproduction. Somatic cells constitute most of the body's tissues and organs. In genetics, somatic mutations occur in non-reproductive cells and are not inherited by offspring; they can arise during development or later in life and can contribute to diseases such as cancer. Somatic cell lineages undergo mitotic division and are separate from germ cells, which give rise to gametes.

The term also appears in the context of the nervous system: the somatic nervous system, part of the peripheral nervous system, mediates voluntary movement and sensory innervation of the skin and muscles; it is contrasted with the autonomic nervous system, which regulates involuntary functions.

In medicine, somatic symptoms refer to physical symptoms that may be persistent or distressing, regardless of an underlying disease; somatic symptom disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis characterized by disproportionate thoughts about the seriousness of symptoms.

In botany and developmental biology, somatic tissues can undergo somatic embryogenesis, a process by which plant somatic cells form embryos in tissue culture, a method used in cloning and propagation. In cloning, somatic cell nuclear transfer uses a somatic cell nucleus to create an embryo.

See also: soma; germ cell; somatic mutations; somatic nervous system; somatic symptom disorder.