A teacher once asked his five years old student during a lecture: “Why do you want to marry?”. The child answered: “I want to marry in order to give birth and ensure my continuity when I am gone”. That’s very true, though there are hundreds of reasons why one should marry.
Cells divide in order to ensure their continuity through two processes:
- Mitosis
- Meiosis
The mitotic type of cell division occurs in the soma cells, while the meiotic type of cell division occurs in the gamete cells.
Why mitotic cell division?
- Division of the body cells (somatic cells) unarguably leads to an increase in the body size and mass.
- Ever had a wound on your knee while playing soccer?. The replacement of the damaged tissue skin is facilitated by mitotic cell division. Replacement of worn-out cells on body tissues are through mitosis.
- In certain animals such as crustacean and starfish. Regeneration of the lost body tissues is by mitosis.
- It is also the fundamental basis for asexual reproduction.
Why meiotic cell division?
- Cells of testes and ovaries that are involved in sexual reproduction divide by the meiotic process.
- It provides an opportunity for a combination of new genes unlike in mitotic cell division.
