The zygote is single cell and a human adult has about 100 trillion cells.
Approximately how many divisions should the zygote undergo to form the adult,
Considering the fact that one cell division leads to the formation of two cells?
Answers
Answer:
How Many Cells Are in Your Body?
You and I began as a single cell, or what you would call an egg. By the time you are an adult, you will have trillions of cells. That number depends on the size of the person, but biologists put that number around 37 trillion cells. Yes, that is trillion with a "T."
How Do Cells Know When to Divide?
In cell division, the cell that is dividing is called the "parent" cell. The parent cell divides into two "daughter" cells. The process then repeats in what is called the cell cycle.
Explanation:
How Cells Divide
Depending on the type of cell, there are two ways cells divide—mitosis and meiosis. Each of these methods of cell division has special characteristics. One of the key differences in mitosis is a single cell divides into two cells that are replicas of each other and have the same number of chromosomes. This type of cell division is good for basic growth, repair, and maintenance. In meiosis a cell divides into four cells that have half the number of chromosomes. Reducing the number of chromosomes by half is important for sexual reproduction and provides for genetic diversity.
Mitosis Cell Division
Mitosis is how somatic—or non-reproductive cells—divide. Somatic cells make up most of your body's tissues and organs, including skin, muscles, lungs, gut, and hair cells. Reproductive cells (like eggs) are not somatic cells.
In mitosis, the important thing to remember is that the daughter cells each have the same chromosomes and DNA as the parent cell. The daughter cells from mitosis are called diploid cells. Diploid cells have two complete sets of chromosomes. Since the daughter cells have exact copies of their parent cell's DNA, no genetic diversity is created through mitosis in normal healthy cells.
The Mitosis Cell Cycle
Before a cell starts dividing, it is in the "Interphase." It seems that cells must be constantly dividing (remember there are 2 trillion cell divisions in your body every day), but each cell actually spends most of its time in the interphase. Interphase is the period when a cell is getting ready to divide and start the cell cycle. During this time, cells are gathering nutrients and energy. The parent cell is also making a copy of its DNA to share equally between the two daughter cells.
The mitosis division process has several steps or phases of the cell cycle—interphase, prophase, prometaphase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, and cytokinesis—to successfully make the new diploid cells.