Cell Division Basics
Ever wonder how your body repairs a cut or how you grew taller? That's cell division at work! Cells divide for two main reasons: reproduction (to create more cells and avoid extinction) and growth/renewal (allowing your body to develop and replace worn-out tissues).
When cells divide, they create daughter cells. In asexual reproduction, a single parent produces genetically identical offspring. Sexual reproduction, however, requires fertilization between an egg and sperm to create offspring with mixed genetic material.
Bacteria divide through a simple process called binary fission. During binary fission, the bacterial DNA doubles, the cell elongates, chromosomes move to opposite ends, and finally, the cell membrane grows inward to create two cells.
Fun Fact: The cell cycle has distinct phases that prepare cells for division: G1 (growth), S (DNA replication), G2 (preparation for division), and M (the actual division process).
