Definition
Mitosis is a type of cell division giving rise to genetically identical cells in which the chromosome number is maintained. #BiologyDefinitions
Daughter cells:
- identical to parent cell
- identical to each other
- same chromosomes
- same genes
Importance of Mitosis
Other than asexual reproduction → mitosis also occurs in other processes;
Mitosis is important in:
-
Asexual reproduction.
- Mitosis allows for asexual reproduction to occur
-
Growth in multicellular organisms.
- For multicellular organisms to grow → new cells must be produced by mitosis
-
Repair of damaged tissues
- New cells → produced by mitosis to replace cells that are dead/damaged
Important
mitosis maintains the diploid number of chromosomes