8. What is the most basic purpose of Mitosis and the cell cycle? How does the ce

Question

8. What is the most basic purpose of Mitosis and the cell cycle? How does the cell control these processes? What are checkpoints and apoptosis? 9. What are the stages of Mitosis and the cell cycle? You don’t need to memorize the different stages of each process but I want you do understand major purpose of each process. What is happening to the genetic material (chromosomes) at each stage of these processes? 10.Why is understanding the cell cycle and mitosis important for developing cancer treatments? How do cancer treatments affect this process?

Explanation / Answer

Answer:

8. The development of an organism from a zygote takes place through cell division. Fully developed organisms too require cell division for cell replacement. This somatic cell division where chromosome duplicates and is distributed equally to daughter cells is mitosis.

So main purpose of mitosis and cell cycle is growth and development, restoring the surface-volume ratio of the cell, maintaining the nucleoplasmic index (ratio of nuclear volume to cytoplasmic volume) and repairing the body cells.

For a cell to divide their are certain requirements such as hormones, growth factors, nutrients and suitable environment. If these conditions are favourable, the cell division proceeds.

If the conditions are not favourable the cell rests in the G1 phase (Checkpoint) of the cycle. Once the conditions are apt, and cell moves to the S (DNA synthetic) phase, it is committed to divide.

At this stage many regulatory proteins control the cell cycle. The moost prominent of them is cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK). Once DNA synthesis is complete and the cell enters the G2 phase (Checkpoint), it is ensured that the chromosomes have replicated without damage.

Apoptosis or programmed cell death is also a very important process in multicellular organisms, as to regulate the cell number, cell death is equally important as is cell division.

9. The cell cycle can be divided into four phases -

The 2nd, 3rd and 4th phases are collectively called the interphase.

Stages of Mitosis

10. Cancer is uncontrolled cell division. The regulatory machinery that controls cell division and cell death is affected due to genetic mutations leading to cancer.

Generally the cancer therapies revolve around the understanding of these control mechanisms (regulatory proteins) of cell cycle so that through drugs these affected control mechanisms can be normalised.

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