Michelle Lizbeth M.

Tiano
12 STEM

Assignment 3: Cell Division

Research and explain the following:

1. How do healthy cells divide?

Here is a cell, one of millions in the body. Within the cell's nucleus are chromosomes made of
DNA. Chromosomes contain genes, the cell's instructions. Most human cells have 46
chromosomes (23 pairs), but only one is shown here. When a cell gets ready to divide its DNA
is copied...
The cell checks whether everything is okay with the DNA. Is it damaged? Has it been copied
correctly?
If everything is correct, then the cell can continue.
The cell gets ready to divide. It builds a molecular scaffold, called the spindle, which attaches to
the DNA. The cell checks whether everything is okay with the spindle. Is the DNA attached
properly?
If everything is correct, then the cell can divide. The cell splits, forming two new cells. Healthy
new cells divide in a controlled way, replacing damaged or dead cells as needed. This process
happens millions and millions of times every day in your body.

There are two types of cell division: mitosis and meiosis. Most of the time when people refer
to “cell division,” they mean mitosis, the process of making new body cells. Meiosis is the type
of cell division that creates egg and sperm cells.
Mitosis is a fundamental process for life. During mitosis, a cell duplicates all of its contents,
including its chromosomes, and splits to form two identical daughter cells. Because this process
is so critical, the steps of mitosis are carefully controlled by certain genes. When mitosis is not
regulated correctly, health problems such as cancer can result.

The other type of cell division, meiosis, ensures that humans have the same number of
chromosomes
in each generation. It
is a two- step process
that reduces the
chromosome
number by half—from 46
to 23—to form sperm
and egg cells. When
the sperm and egg cells
unite at conception, each contributes 23 chromosomes so the resulting embryo will have the
usual 46. Meiosis also allows genetic variation through a process of gene shuffling while the
cells are dividing.

2. When do cells divide?

Cells divide in response to external signals that 'tell' them to enter the cell cycle. These signals
may take the form of estrogen or proteins such as platelet derived growth factor (PDGF). These
signaling molecules, depicted as an X-shaped molecule in the animation below, bind to their
target cells and send signals into the nucleus. The result is that the genes responsible for cell
division are turned on and the cell divides. For example, a cut in the skin leads certain blood
cells, platelets, to produce a growth factor (that causes the skin cells to reproduce and fill the
wound. Cell division is a normal process that allows the replacement of dead cells.

Cells can replicate themselves. The ability to reproduce is part of what defines cells as living
things. This single characteristic also helps explain many other phenomena of life as we know it,
including the emergence of multicellular organisms, the wide variety of tissues observed in living
things, and even the scourge of cancer.

The process by which a single cell divides into two daughter cells is called mitosis. Mitosis is an
important part of a cell's life cycle — but the rest of this cycle, collectively known as interphase,
is hardly static. During interphase, the cell carries out the everyday biochemical reactions
associated with metabolism, and it also engages in several processes that will guide it through
the next round of division. In addition, throughout the cell cycle there are multiple monitoring
systems and checkpoints that help the cell determine if and when it should divide, whether it's
time to advance to the next phase, or whether it's time to die and make room for a younger,
healthier cell.
The various checks on cell growth that occur during interphase allow tissues to revitalize
themselves without increasing in size. When these restraints fail, the results — including the
growth and spread of cancer — can be devastating.

References
How do cells divide?: MedlinePlus genetics. (n.d.). MedlinePlus - Health Information from the
National Library of Medicine.
https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/howgeneswork/cellsdivide/

Unit 5 of essentials of cell biology | Learn science at Scitable. (n.d.). Nature.

https://www.nature.com/scitable/ebooks/essentials-of-cell-biology-14749010/how-do-cells-know-
when-to-divide-14751793/

Cell division. (n.d.). CancerQuest. https://www.cancerquest.org/cancer-biology/cell-division

How healthy cells divide - transcript. (2015, January 30). Cancer Research UK.
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/what-is-cancer/how-healthy-cells-divide-
transcript