Why do Cells divide?

Why do Cells divide?

Living things are composed of cells. Human beings, plants and animals could not survive if they don’t have cells. Cells are the basic unit of life.

Cells divide for many reasons. But the division only happens to specific cells in the body. Our cells need to grow. For it to grow, it needs to divide. When the cells are too large, they are not efficient anymore to do the needed tasks. Humans have almost 300 different types of cells and these must be useful for the human process to go on normally.

Cells divide because of reproduction. The process of mitosis and meiosis is an example of how the cells divide. Mitosis is a cellular reproduction in all organisms. It is a process of producing an identical copy of a cell having the same pattern and number of chromosomes and genes. On the other hand, meiosis is used for sexual reproduction to create a new organism. If the cells do not divide, living things could not reproduce thus ending the sustainability of life.

Another reason why cells divide is for repair. In the human body, cells found in the parts where wear and tear usually happens have the bigger chance to divide. In this case, cells in the stomach divide often to cope with the active movement of the food which causes damage to our intestine. In order to repair the damage, the cells divide.
Same is true with the cells in the skin. Once we are wounded, our cells divide rapidly for the wound to get healed fast. Our skin is replenished often to protect our body from injury. If the cells in our active organs do not divide, then we always feel ill and injured.

However, there are cells in the body that divides rarely. These are the cells in the nervous system and the heart. That’s why we must be careful not to damage these sensitive organs so that our body can still function well.