Somatic polyploidy can be defined as the increase of the full chromosome complement in specific cells or tissues of a given diploid organism. Although somatic polyploidy is frequently found in invertebrates, evidence indicates that several organs of the human body can also contain somatic polyploid cells, including the liver, heart, blood, and placenta. The vertebrate nervous system is not an exception to this rule, and different subpopulations of projection neurons are known to become tetraploid as they migrate to their final position in the adult brain.

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