BiologyCode 5090
Nuclear division
What this topic asks you to be able to do
- Understand that DNA is found in chromosomes and carries genetic information as genes
- Describe a haploid nucleus as having its chromosomes in a single set
- Describe a diploid nucleus as having its chromosomes in two sets
- State that chromosomes in a diploid cell come in pairs, one pair of each type, and that human diploid cells have 23 such pairs
- Describe mitosis as a process of nuclear division that produces genetically identical cells, keeping the chromosome number unchanged (stage-by-stage detail is not required)
- Outline how mitosis contributes to growth, to asexual reproduction, to repairing damaged tissues and to replacing cells that are dying
- Describe stem cells as cells that are not yet specialised, which divide by mitosis to give daughter cells capable of specialising for specific functions
- State that meiosis takes part in making gametes
- Describe meiosis as a reduction division that halves the chromosome number, taking cells from diploid to haploid, and produces cells that are genetically different (the stages need not be detailed)
- Understand that cancers develop due to uncontrolled cell division