Cell division and Mitosis
A. Why is cell division important?
1. many organisms start as just one cell
a. reproduction
i. that cell divides and becomes two; two become four; four become eight, and so on
2. many-celled organisms, including you, grow because cell division increases the total number of cells in an organism
a. after growth stops, cell division is still important
i. every day, billions of red blood cells in your body wear out and are replaced
ii. during a the last few seconds, your bone marrow
produced about six million red blood cells