Mitosis and Its Functions

Section 1: Mitosis and its Function

• Mitosis is a cell division process that creates two new cells with exact copies of DNA from the original cell.
• Mitosis is used to produce more cells for growth and repair in multicellular organisms, and for asexual reproduction in single-celled organisms.

Mitosis for Growth and Repair

• Mitosis is the process by which body cells reproduce.
• It is essential for tissue growth, repair of damaged tissues and maintenance of organs in the human body.

Mitosis vs Meiosis

• Mitosis: Creates identical cells for growth, repair, and asexual reproduction
• Meiosis: Creates diverse cells that are required for sexual reproduction
• The number of chromosomes remains the same in mitosis, but it reduces to half in meiosis.

Role of Mitosis in Cell Growth

• One of the functions of mitosis is to make new cells for the growth of multicellular organisms.
• These new cells can repair damaged tissues in a wide variety of organisms
• All of the processes use mitosis

Turtle Growth

• The number of cells in a turtle increases, which causes the turtle to grow bigger.
• Increased size is due to cellular replication and growth of the overall organism.

Section 2: Cell Reproduction and Healing

• Cell reproduction increases during healing to promote faster healing of the wound.
• Higher rate of cell reproduction promotes faster and more efficient healing.
• Mitosis is the primary cell division process involved in tissue repair.

Meiosis and the Number of Cells

• In meiosis, the number of chromosomes is reduced by half to ensure the genetic combination of offspring.
• The daughter cells resulting from meiosis contain half the number of chromosomes of the parent cell

Meiosis and Sexual Reproduction

• Meiosis produces sex cells (gametes), needed for sexual reproduction.
• Meiosis enables the combination of genetic material from both parents to create a unique offspring.
• The diversity generated by genetic combination is key to adapting to environmental changes.

Differences between Mitosis and Meiosis

• Mitosis produces identical cells for growth and repair.
• Meiosis produces diverse cells used for sexual reproduction.

Chromosome Pairing

• Chromosomes exist in pairs because each pair comes from one parent.
• Each pair carries half the complete set of genetic information for the organism.

Types of Reproduction

• Sexual reproduction: Combining genetic material from two parents
• Asexual reproduction: Creating an exact copy of a single parent

Sexual Reproduction in Daffodils

• Daffodils reproduce sexually and asexually.
• Sexual reproduction combines genetic material from the female and male parent.
• Asexual reproduction creates new plants genetically identical to the parent plant.

Advantages of Sexual Reproduction

• Offspring inherit a wide array of genetic information from both parents.
• This diversity helps organisms survive and adapt to changing environments.

Other Key Concepts

• The cells produced from meiosis are not genetically identical to the parent cell
• Asexual reproduction results in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent
• When two sex cells merge during sexual reproduction, the resultant zygote will inherit genetic traits from both parents.
• Genetic variation arises as a result of sexual reproduction.
• Genetic combination of traits from parents produces a new organism with unique characteristics.