Purpose Of Mitosis To Replace Old Cells In The Body

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The purpose of mitosis is to produce new cells to replace old cells in the body. Cells in the body have a set life period and die off when too old, which is where mitosis plays a role and replaces the old cells with new cells that is produced. With the new cells being produced, the new cells will also take on the same roles as the old cells cells did in the body too. However, if cells do not undergo mitosis, all the cells in the body will die off and eventually, the body will no longer function.

DNA replicates itself in the first step in mitosis in order to make sure that each produced cell from mitosis have the same number of chromosomes as that of the parent cell. If DNA were not to replicate itself, then each produced cell will have half of the number of chromosomes as the parent cell, which is not the purpose of mitosis as mitosis produces new cells to replace old cells, or parent cells. As a result, each cell that is produced without DNA replicating will not function properly as well as the body. Therefore, the replication of DNA as the first step of mitosis is necessary in order to keep the body functioning with every cell having the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell.
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The reason as to why sex cells have half the amount of DNA is for the purpose of fertilization in which sperm and egg unite. When the sperm and egg unite, the total amount of DNA has to be the amount of DNA found in each of the parents in order to create a normal offspring with the correct amount of DNA. Without the correct amount of DNA, the offspring will have defects that can affect their body