Activity 4. Cell Division
1. Distinguish between somatic and reproductive cell division and explain the importance of each.
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Somatic cell division is anything that results in the production of body cells. This is important because a) humans grow therefore we need more cells to adequately mature b) to replenish any cells that may have died due to certain circumstances (e.g. when a child gets grazed- somatic cell division is needed for wounds to heal).
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Reproductive cell division on the other hand is for the production of sperm and egg cells to give birth to other human beings. Of course this is important for population growth of the human species.
2. What is the significance of interphase?
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During the interphase part of the cell cycle, the cells are able to undergo a process in which to duplicate itself with the same information from another cell, so as to divide and multiply in number. From this, it is deduced that interphase is important because it provides another cell the exact same copy of the parent cell and if one process is skipped, then a defect within the cell cycle would be made (therefore would propagate a lot of problems).