BIOL 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Dna Replication, Telophase, Chemotherapy
17 Feb 2015
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Document Summary
Cell division is the process by which a cell reproduces itself. Important for normal growth, development, and repair of an organism. Why do normal, healthy cells divide: for growth and development. Embryonic development: a fertilized egg and its daughter cells continue to divide to create trillions of cells that make up the human body: cells divide for cell replacement. Cell replacement: most cells have a finite lifespan. Cell division within tissues regularly replaces the dying cells and maintains healthy tissues. Cells in the bone marrow regularly divide to produce new, healthy blood cells. New cells migrate into blood vessel to replace those that have reached the end of their lifespan: cells divide to heal wounds. Wound healing: injury triggers cell division to replace damaged cells. A cell doesn"t simply split in half to form two new cells. If it did, each cell would be smaller than the original. Each cell would lose half its contents with each division.
