How do cells divide

Gaining an overall understanding of the processes underlying the transmission of cellular identity through generations is a fundamental question in cell biology. This understanding will open up the possibility of intervening to correct anomalies in defective cells. Moreover, elucidating the mechanisms which control the differentiated state will open up entirely new possibilities both for treating cells such as cancer cells which have lost their identity and for the generation of iPSCs induced pluripotent stem cells or other specific and clinically-relevant cell lineages.

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Read more. Exit Menu How do cells divide? Home Projects How do cells divide? To make the move from asexual to sexual reproduction, nature took a system by which parent cells reproduced simply by dividing asexual reproduction and altered it to allow two parent cells to combine to create offspring sexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction relies on a process called mitosis, in which the nucleus of a cell divides to create two new nuclei, each containing an identical copy of DNA.

Mitosis allows the cells in your body to divide and regenerate—your hair to grow, your skin to heal after being wounded. Almost all of the DNA duplication in your body is carried out through mitosis. Meiosis, on the other hand, is the process by which certain sex cells are created.

If you're male, your body uses meiosis to create sperm cells; if you're female, it uses meiosis to create egg cells. While all other cells in your body contain 46 chromosomes 23 from your father and 23 from your mother , your egg or sperm cells contain only half that number—a total of 23 chromosomes.

When an egg and sperm unite to make a fertilized egg, the chromosomes add up to equal Contact a health care provider if you have questions about your health. How do cells divide? From Genetics Home Reference. Mitosis and meiosis, the two types of cell division. Topics in the How Genes Work chapter What are proteins and what do they do?

How do genes direct the production of proteins? Can genes be turned on and off in cells? What is epigenetics?