Cells And Control Flashcards
Which two ways can a cell divide and reproduce?
Mitosis and meiosis
What’s asexual reproduction of cells? What do they produce?
Mitosis.
Asexual reproduction involves only one parent. The offspring have identical genes to the parent with no variation between parent and offspring.
Mitosis
When a cell reproduces itself by splitting to form 2 cells with identical sets of chromosomes.
Chromosomes
Coiled up lengths of DNA molecules
How many copies of each chromosome do diploid cells have? Where do these come from?
2, one from the father (Y) and one from the mother (X)
What’s the cell cycle and what’s its function?
When body cells in a multicellular organism divide to produce new cells. Mitosis is part of this and is used for growth and repair of cells that have been damaged, they can also be used in some organisms to reproduce.
What’s interphase? Is it a stage of mitosis?
Interphase isn’t a phase of mitosis. Before division, the cell has to grow and increase the amount of sub-cellular structures. The DNA is then duplicated and copied to form ‘X shaped chromosomes’ with each arm the exact duplicate of the other.
What’s the first stage of mitosis?
Prophase, chromosomes condense (getting shorter and fatter). Nuclear membrane breaks down so that chromosomes are free in the cytoplasm. Spindles start to appear.
When do spindles start to appear?
Prophase
What’s the second stage of mitosis?
Metaphase, the chromosomes line up in the middle of the cell with microtubules connected to each centromere.
What are chromatids joined together by?
A centromere
What are spindle fibres called?
Microtubules
What’s the third stage of mitosis?
Anaphase, centromeres split and each chromatid is dragged by the spindle fibres to opposite ends of the cell.
What’s the fourth stage of mitosis?
Telophase, the group of chromatids assemble at both ends and spindle fibres disintegrate while the nuclear membrane forms around them. They then lengthen and uncoil into chromatin. A crease called a cleavage forms in the middle of the cell.
Cytokinesis
The splitting of the cell membrane to form 2 diploid cells.
What processes does growth in plants involve?
Cell division, differentiation and elongation
Growth
Increase in dry mass of a plant/animal.
Cell differentiation
Process by which a cell changes to become specialised for its job. Specialised cells allows multicellular organisms to act more efficiently.
Cell elongation
Where a plant cell expands, making the cell bigger and so making the plant grow.
How does animal growth work?
Cell division. Animals grow when young and then reach full growth and stop. Younger animals’ cells divide at fast rates for growth while adult’s cell division is mostly for repair and replacement of old/damaged cells. CELL DIFFERENTIATION IS LOST AT AN EARLY AGE.
How does plant growth work?
Cell division usually occurs in the tips/ roots of a cell (meristem) and then elongate throughout due to water absorption. Their growth happens continuously and they differentiate throughout its lifetime.
Meristem
Cells found in growing areas of the plant such as roots and shoots that produce unspecialised cells, due to carrying out mitosis, that can be any cell within the plant. Unspecialised cells go on to form specialised tissues like xylem/phloem
What controls mitosis rate?
The chemical instructions (genes) within an organism’s DNA. If there’s a change / mutation within a gene, cells may start dividing UNCONTROLLABLY. This results in a tumour.
Tumour
Mass of abnormal cells, if it in cases and destroys surrounding tissues, it is cancer.
What’s the hayflick limit?
The limit applied to the maximum number of times a cell can divide (50 on average).
What can make monitor growth? Why?
Percentile charts create an overall pattern of development that can be observed and checked for problems/ inconsistent patterns.
What would the 50th percentile show?
The top 50%
How do they measure a child’s growth?
Mass, length and head circumference
Stem cells
Undifferentiated cells
Where are embryonic stem cells found?
In human embryos. These embryonic stem cells can differentiate into any cell at all.
Why are stem cells important to organisms?
They are essential to growth and development of organisms.
Where are adult stem cells found?
Bone marrow, they aren’t as versatile as embryonic as embryonic cells as they can only differentiate into certain cells. In adults, they are used to replace damaged cells.
How are stem cells used in medicine?
ADUULT stem cells cure some diseases such as sickle cell anaemia as adult stem cells can produce new blood cells. There’s much potential regarding disease curing.
EMBRYONIC stem cells have been produced in labs and stimulated into specialised cells but the embryo has to be destroyed after 2 weeks.
In the future, it could be possible to replace damaged/ diseased cells in a transplant of embryonic stem cells grown into that tissue/organ.
Much research needs to be done.
What are the disadvantages of embryonic stem cells?
Ethical problems,
have to be destroyed after 2 weeks,
Inability to control growth could result in cancer,
Could transmit diseases,
Could be rejected,
Drugs taken to repress rejection weaken immune system
Disadvantages of adult stem cells?
Can produce cancer,
Can be rejected,
Can transmit disease,
Not as potent as embryonic,
Arguments for embryonic stem cells
Suffering is more important than lives of embryos,
Embryos used are usually unwanted ones from fertility clinics,
Why plants/ animals respond to changes in their external environment?
To increase chances of survival
Why do animals respond to changes in their internal environment?
To make sure that conditions are always right for METABOLISM.
Stimulus
Any change in the internal/external environment
Function of receptors
They DETECT STIMULI. Receptors within the sense organs detect external stimuli.
What’s the function of effectors?
Cells that bring about a response to stimuli through cells like muscles (contraction) and glands (secrete hormones).
How do receptors communicate with effectors?
The nervous system/ hormonal system