Unit 4, Topic 1: Mitosis and Asexual Reproduction

Limits to Cell Growth

Cells divide rather than continuing to grow larger due to increasing demands on their DNA and the inability to efficiently transport nutrients and waste.

Information Crisis

Occurs when a cell grows too large and the DNA cannot keep up with the demands of running the larger cell.

Cell Division

The process by which cellular material is divided between two new daughter cells, resulting in identical daughter cells.

Chromosomes

Structures made of DNA that carry genetic information; humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes.

Interphase

The phase of the cell cycle during which the cell prepares for division, accounting for 90% of the cell's life.

Mitosis

The division of the nucleus during cell division, which includes stages such as prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.

Cytokinesis

The process that follows mitosis, involving the division of the cytoplasm to form two separate daughter cells.

Cleavage Furrow

A structure that forms in animal cells during cytokinesis, pinching the cell membrane inward to separate the cells.

Cell Cycle Regulation

The control mechanisms that manage the frequency of cell division and maintain balanced tissue growth.

Cancer Cells

Cells that grow uncontrollably due to the failure of protein regulators that control the cell cycle.

Early prophase

Chromosomes: coil and separate, become visible, chromatids connected by centromere

Nucleolus disappears, centrioles separate and move to opposite ends of the cell