Both animal and plant cells can differentiate, but they differ in how long they retain this ability throughout life. In animals, most cells differentiate early in development, and many mature animal cells lose the ability to differentiate except for specific types of adult stem cells that retain this ability to replace and repair cells such as blood and skin cells. In contrast, many types of plant cells retain the ability to differentiate throughout the life of the plant due to the presence of totipotent cells and meristematic cells that keep generating new tissues continuously. This allows plants to grow and adapt throughout their lifespan. In summary, animal cells generally lose differentiation ability early except for some adult stem cells, whereas plant cells tend to retain their ability to differentiate much longer, often throughout their entire life.