Topic 2 Biology Flashcards
(71 cards)
What is mitosis?
- When parent cells divide to produce 2 genetically identical daughter cells.
Why is mitosis essential?
- Growth and repair
What are the 4 stages of mitosis?
- Prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase
What happens during prophase?
- Chromosomes condense, getting shorter and fatter.
- Centrioles move to opposite poles.
- Nucleolus disappears.
- Nuclear envelope breaks down.
- Spindle fibres begin to form and attach to centromeres.
What happens during metaphase?
- Spindle fibres pull the chromosomes so they align at the centre/equator.
What happens during anaphase?
- Centromeres divide, separating each pair of sister chromatids.
- Spindle fibres shorten and pull chromatids to opposite poles of the cell.
- Chromosome reform.
What happens during telophase?
- Chromosomes uncoil.
- Spindle fibres disintegrate.
- Cytoplasm divides to form 2 separate cells (cytokinesis)
What happens during interphase?
- There is a period of cell growth and repair.
What happens during G1?
- Cell grows and increases in volume as new organelles and cytoplasm are made
What happens during S phase?
- Cell replicates its DNA.
What happens during G2 phase?
- Cell continues to grow and synthesise enzymes for mitosis.
What is the equation to measure the time it takes for each phase?
Cells in phase/total number of cells undergoing mitosis X total time of 1 cell cycle
What is the mitotic index? (and its equation)
- The proportion of cells undergoing mitosis in a tissue
- Number of cells undergoing mitosis/Total number of cells X 100
Why is the mitotic index essential?
Gives us an indication of whether cells are becoming cancerous.
What is cancer?
- Happens when genes that control cell division mutate, leading to uncontrolled cell division, leading to tumours forming.
What is a benign tumour?
- Tumours that do not spread to other parts of the body and are slow growing.
What is a malignant tumour?
- Tumours that invade neighbouring tissues and grow quickly.
How can treatments help cancer?
- Disrupt the cell cycle which stops the division of cells.
Why are treatments of cancer negative?
- Treatments do not distinguish between cancerous cells and normal body cells, so healthy cells get exposed.
What are 3 types of cancer treatments?
- Radiotherapy uses radiation to destroy cancer cells.
- Chemotherapy (drugs)
- Surgery (but this is hard)
What is binary fission
- The replication of DNA and plasmids.
- Circular DNA strands move to opposite poles.
- Cytoplasm divides and a new cell wall grows to divide the original cell into 2 identical daughter cells
- (results in a variable number of plasmids.
What are 3 features of the non-specific immune system?
- The response is immediate.
- The response is the same for all pathogens.
- The response involves physical barriers and phagocytosis.
What are 3 features of the specific immune system?
- The response is slower.
- The response is specific to each pathogen.
- The response involves lymphocytes.