Lesson 7 of 13 · 5 min
Significance of mitosis
NCERT §10.3
Ishaan asks why the body bothers copying every chromosome perfectly just to make another identical cell. Diya lists what would stop working without it.
The lesson in notes
In short
Mitosis usually happens only in diploid cells, but some lower plants and some social insects have haploid cells that divide by mitosis too.
Mitosis usually produces diploid daughter cells with identical genetic complements.
Mitosis is what makes a multicellular organism grow.
As a cell grows, the ratio between its nucleus and its cytoplasm is disturbed; dividing restores the nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio.
Mitosis repairs and replaces cells: the outermost epidermal cells, the cells lining the gut and blood cells are replaced all the time.
In plants, mitosis in the meristems, the apical meristem and the lateral cambium, lets the plant keep growing throughout its life.