SLA No.

4: Applications of Mitosis and Meiosis/ Chromosomal Aberrations

Subject Code/Number: STEM02
Subject Title: General Biology 1
Teacher: Jaison Cho

XI. Introduction

Hello everyone! Have you heard about Dolly the sheep? She is the first ever successful cloned
animal. Do you know that our knowledge of the process of mitosis led us to the idea of cloning? These
questions will lead you to find answers as you read SLA-4 and perform the required activities and
worksheets.

(This learning competency is extracted from the DepEd curriculum guide)

E. Learning Competency

Explain the significance or applications of mitosis/meiosis (STEM_BIO11/12-Id-f-9)

Identify disorders and diseases that result from the malfunction of the cell during the cell cycle
(STEM_BIO11/12-Id-f-10)

F. Learning Outcomes

1. Determine the applications of mitosis and meiosis in the improvement of the society
2. Enumerate the different disorders and diseases caused by chromosomal aberrations
3. Create an infovideo that raises awareness about the diseases by chromosomal aberrations
4. Appreciate the importance of being aware that genetic diseases are not contagious

XII. Learning Content

What do I need to know? To answer this, you have to read the given text completely with joy, as you
explore some amazing application of mitosis and meiosis.

Mitosis and meiosis both involve cells dividing to make new cells. This makes them both vital processes
for the existence of living things that reproduce sexually. Meiosis makes the cells needed for sexual
reproduction to occur, and mitosis replicates non-sex cells needed for growth and development.
Together, they provide the cellular basis for healthy growth and sexual reproduction.

Applications of Mitosis

Mitosis is the process by which non-sex cells divide to make new cells. After a fertilization event, mitosis
kicks in to begin making copies of the newly formed zygote. The first cell will duplicate itself through
mitosis. The two resulting cells will also be duplicated. And the process will continue exponentially
throughout the organism's lifetime. This is how individuals grow body parts, develop, repair damaged
tissues, replace dead cells and change at a cellular level as they mature. Mitosis always produces two
cells that are genetically identical to each other and the original cell.
Mitosis has been utilized for many lab-based techniques in molecular biology and biotechnology. Some
of the common use of mitosis are:

A. Cloning

Cloning is a technique employed in biotechnology to produce identical copies of cells or DNA fragments.
In cloning, the number of organisms is increased by the process of mitosis, which is then used in a wide
array of biological experiments like fingerprinting.

Types of Cloning

 Molecular Cloning refers to the process of making multiple molecules used to amplify DNA
fragments containing whole genes, any DNA sequence, non-coding sequences and randomly
fragmented DNA. It is used in a wide array of biological experiments and practical applications
ranging from genetic fingerprinting to large scale.

Cloning of any DNA fragment essentially involves four steps:

1. fragmentation - breaking apart a strand of DNA;
2. ligation - gluing together pieces of DNA in a desired sequence;
3. transfection - inserting the newly formed pieces of DNA into cells; and
4. screening/selection - selecting out the cells that were successfully transfected with the new DNA

 Cell Cloning means to derive a population of cells from a single cell. In the case of unicellular
organisms such as bacteria and yeast, this process is remarkably simple and essentially only
requires the inoculation of the appropriate medium.

 Organism Cloning (Reproductive Cloning) is the procedure of creating a new multicellular

organism, genetically identical to another. In essence this form of cloning is an asexual method
of reproduction, where fertilization or inter-gamete contact does not take place. Asexual
reproduction is a naturally occurring phenomenon in many species, including most plants and
insects. Examples of organism cloning include horticultural – vegetative reproduction or
apomixes and parthenogenesis – reproduction of an organism by itself without a mate.

 Artificial Cloning generally uses "somatic cell nuclear transfer" ( SCNT ) to create animals that
are genetically identical. This process entails the transfer of a nucleus from a donor adult cell
(somatic cell) to an egg that has no nucleus. If the egg begins to divide normally, it is transferred
into the uterus of the surrogate mother. Such clones are not strictly identical since the somatic
cells may contain mutations in their nuclear DNA. Additionally, the mitochondria in the
cytoplasm also contains DNA and during SCNT this DNA is wholly from the donor egg, thus the
mitochondrial genome is not the same as that of the nucleus donor cell from which it was
produced. This may have important implications for cross-species nuclear transfer in which
nuclear-mitochondrial incompatibilities may lead to death.
B. Tissue culture

The growth of tissues or cells outside of the body of the organism in a liquid, semi-solid, or solid growth
medium is called tissue culture. Tissue culture is based on the process of mitosis, where a cell undergoes
division to form multiple tissues. Besides, tissue culture may lead to organ culture in various organisms.

Organ culture is a development from tissue culture methods of research, the organ culture is able to
accurately model functions of an organ in various states and conditions by the use of the actual in vitro
organ itself. Parts of an organ or a whole organ can be cultured in vitro. The main objective is to
maintain the architecture of the tissue and direct it towards normal development. In this technique, it is
essential that the tissue is never be disrupted or damaged. It thus requires careful handling. The media
used for a growing organ culture are generally the same as those used for tissue culture. The techniques
for organ culture can be classified into (1) those employing a solid medium and (2) those employing
liquid medium.

C. Stem cell regeneration

Stem cells are a group of cells that can be directed to form specialized cells in the body. Stem cells can
undergo mitosis to regenerate and repair diseased or damaged tissues in people. Its special features
include:
 can divide through mitosis
 can differentiate into diverse specialized cell types
 can self-renew to produce more stem cells.
In mammals, there are two broad types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells that are isolated from the
inner cell mass of blastocysts, and adult stem cells that are found in various tissues.

Properties of stem cell

 Self-renewal - the ability to go through numerous cycles of cell division while maintaining the
undifferentiated state.
 Potency - the capacity to differentiate into specialized cell types.

Types of stem cell

 Embryonic stem cell lines (ES cell lines) are cultures of cells derived from the epiblast tissue of
the inner cell mass (ICM) of a blastocyst or earlier morula stage embryos.

 Fetal stem cells are the primitive stem cells located in the organs of fetuses.

 Adult stem cells are also known as somatic stem cells and germline (giving rise to gametes) stem
cells, they can be found in children, as well as adults.

 Amniotic stem cells are multipotent and can differentiate in cells of adipogenic , osteogenic ,
myogenic , endothelial, hepatic and also neuronal lines.

Applications of Meiosis

Meiosis is the process by which sexually reproducing organisms make their sex cells, sperm and eggs.
During meiosis, a specialized cell called a germ cell splits to make four new sex cells, each with half the
number of chromosomes as the original germ cell. Each of the four sex cells has a unique combination of
DNA, meaning no two sperm or eggs are genetically identical.

Meiosis, like mitosis, is used for several lab-based technologies, some of which are given below:

A. Tissue culture

Like mitosis, meiosis is also used in biotechnology to acquire a gametic condition in cells. Meiosis often
accompanies mitosis to generate variation which aids in studies regarding evolutionary processes.

B. In-vitro gamete formation

In various gamete failure-derived infertility issues, the embryonic stem cells are differentiated into
germ-like cells through the meiotic division. These gametes are formed in-vitro via meiosis and are
inserted into the individuals with such disorders.

Significance of Meiosis for Diversity

One of the benefits of sexual reproduction is the diversity it produces within a population. That variety is
a direct product of meiosis. Every sex cell made from meiosis has a unique combination of
chromosomes. This means that no two sperm or egg cells are genetically identical. Every fertilization
event produces new combinations of traits. This is why siblings share DNA with parents and each other,
but are not identical to one another.

Diversity in skin color

CHROMOSOMAL ABERRATIONS

Chromosomal abnormalities occur when there is a defect in a chromosome, or in the arrangement of

the genetic material on the chromosome. Very often, chromosome abnormalities give rise to specific
physical symptoms, however, the severity of these can vary from individual to individual. In most cases,
this is attributed to the malfunction of the cell to properly divide during meiosis or mitosis.

Abnormalities can be in the form of additional material which may be attached to a chromosome, or
where part or a whole chromosome is missing, or even in defective formation of a chromosome. Any
increases or decreases in chromosomal material interfere with normal development and function.

There are two main types of chromosomal abnormality which can occur during meiosis and fertilization:
numerical aberrations and structural aberrations.
Numerical Aberrations

These are usually caused by a failure of chromosome division, which results in cells with an extra
chromosome or a deficiency in chromosomes.

Gametes with these anomalies can result in conditions such as Down syndrome (who have 47
chromosomes instead of 46), or Turner syndrome (45 chromosomes). Common types of numerical
aberrations are: triploidy, trisomy, monosomy and mosaicism.

Symptoms of
Turner’s Syndrome

Symptoms of Down Syndrome

Structural Aberrations

These occur due to a loss or genetic material, or a rearrangement in the location of the genetic material.
They include: deletions, duplications, inversions, ring formations, and translocations.

 Deletions: A portion of the chromosome is missing or deleted. Known disorders include Wolf-
Hirschhorn syndrome, which is caused by partial deletion of the short arm of chromosome 4;
and Jacobsen syndrome, also called the terminal 11q deletion disorder.

A baby born with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome

https://www2.le.ac.uk/projects/

 Duplications: A portion of the chromosome is duplicated, resulting in extra genetic material.

Known disorders include Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A which may be caused by
duplication of the gene encoding peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22) on chromosome 17.

 Translocations: When a portion of one chromosome is transferred to another chromosome.

There are two main types of translocations. In a reciprocal translocation, segments from two
different chromosomes have been exchanged. In a Robertsonian translocation, an entire
chromosome has attached to another at the centromere; these only occur with chromosomes
13, 14, 15, 21 and 22.

 Inversions: A portion of the chromosome has broken off, turned upside down and reattached,
therefore the genetic material is inverted.

 Rings: A portion of a chromosome has broken off and formed a circle or ring. This can happen
with or without loss of genetic material.

 Isochromosome: Formed by the mirror image copy of a chromosome segment including the
centromere.

Structural aberrations also include some disorders which are characterized by chromosomal instability
and breakage. One example, is the creation of a fragile site on the X Chromosome - Fragile X syndrome.
Boys are worse affected by this because they only have one X-Chromosome but even in girls, Fragile X
syndrome can cause learning difficulties.
Most chromosome anomalies occur as an accident in the egg or sperm, and are therefore not inherited.
The anomaly is present in every cell of the body. Some anomalies, however, can happen after
conception, resulting in mosaicism (where some cells have the anomaly and some do not). Chromosome
anomalies can be inherited from a parent or be "de novo". This is why chromosome studies are often
performed on parents when a child is found to have an anomaly.

XIII. Self-Learning Activities

Activity 1. Infovideo

1. Read and analyze the different diseases and disorders that result from chromosomal a
aberrations.
2. Select one that catch your attention and interest.
3. Create an infovideo about the symptoms of the chosen disease and on how it is acquired.
4. Post it in any of your social media accounts provide a good caption about awareness.

XIV. Looking Back

C. Directions: Complete the following table by providing five applications of mitosis and meiosis.

Mitosis Meiosis
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.

D. Directions: Answer the following questions based on your understanding.

1. What could be the possible reason a chromosomal aberration occur?

XV. Extension of Learning

E. For Students with Internet Connection

1. Download the given links below and watch it.

2. Write a friendly letter to a person with a Down syndrome.
3. Submit it after one week.

III. Spontaneous Generation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze_6VWwLtOE