CELL DIVISION

CHAPTER 16
 What is Growth?
• GROWTH IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF ALL LIVING
THINGS. IT IS A PERMANENT INCREASE IN SIZE
WHICH IS ACCOMPANIED BY CELL DIVISION
AND DIFFERENTIATION TO FORM TISSUES AND
ORGANS.
MITOSIS
Mitosis is a form of nuclear
division that produces daughter
nuclei containing the same
number of chromosomes as the
parent nucleus. The daughter
nuclei are genetically identical.
 Importance of Mitosis
• MITOSIS HELPS IN PRESERVING AND MAINTAINING THE GENETIC STABILITY OF A
PARTICULAR POPULATION.
• GROWTH- MITOSIS HELP IN INCREASING THE NUMBER OF CELLS IN A LIVING ORGANISM
THEREBY PLAYING A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE GROWTH OF A LIVING ORGANISM.
• REPLACEMENT AND REGENERATION OF NEW CELLS- REGENERATION AND
REPLACEMENT OF WORN-OUT AND DAMAGED TISSUES IS A VERY IMPORTANT FUNCTION
OF MITOSIS IN LIVING ORGANISMS. MITOSIS HELPS IN THE PRODUCTION OF IDENTICAL
COPIES OF CELLS AND THUS HELPS IN REPAIRING THE DAMAGED TISSUE OR REPLACING
THE WORN-OUT CELLS.
• IT IS ESSENTIAL IN ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION.
 GAMETES
• GAMETES ARE REPRODUCTIVE CELLS THAT CONTAIN HALF THE NUMBER OF
CHROMOSOMES (HAPLOID) AS THE NORMAL BODY CELLS (DIPLOID).
• GAMETES ARE PRODUCED IN THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS BY MEIOSIS.
• GAMETES ARE PRODUCED AS THEY ARE NEEDED IN SEXUAL REPRODUCTION.
• SEXUAL REPRODUCTION INVOLVES THE FUSION OF TWO
GAMETES DURING FERTILISATION.
• FERTILISATION OCCURS WHEN THE NUCLEUS OF THE MALE
GAMETE FUSES WITH THE NUCLEUS OF THE FEMALE
GAMETE TO FORM A ZYGOTE.
• IN THIS WAY, THE NORMAL DIPLOID NUMBER OF
CHROMOSOMES IS RESTORED IN THE ZYGOTE.
• THE ZYGOTE THEN DIVIDES BY MITOSIS TO FORM AN
EMBRYO.
 Meiosis
• MEIOSIS IS A REDUCTION DIVISION WHICH PRODUCES
HALF THE NUMBER OF CHROMOSOMES AS THE NORMAL
BODY CELL.
• MEIOSIS IS NEEDED IN REPRODUCTION.
 IMPORTANCE OF MEIOSIS
• MEIOSIS PRODUCES HAPLOID GAMETES – FOR FERTISATION
• MEIOSIS RESULTS IN VARIATIONS - DUE TO CROSSING OVER AND INDEPENDENT
ASSORTMENT OF CHROMOSOMES.
 CELL DIVISION AND CANCER

Cancer cells are cells gone wrong — in other

words, they no longer respond to many of the
signals that control cellular growth and death.
Cancer cells originate within tissues and, as
they grow and divide, they diverge ever further
from normalcy. Over time, these cells become
increasingly resistant to the controls that
maintain normal tissue — and as a result, they
divide more rapidly than their progenitors and
become less dependent on signals from other
cells.