Media Center Research Assignment/Journal Article Summary
Dixon-Brown
Mitosis and the Cell Cycle
– How a Single Cell Develops into the Trillions of Cells in a Human Body1
Cells, Chromosomes and Genes
Every person started as a single cell – a fertilized egg.
1. How do you think a single cell developed into the trillions of cells in your body?
Each of my cells duplicated or cloned themselves to create more cells in me
Before you learn how new cells are made, we need to briefly review chromosomes and genes.
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•
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Each chromosome contains a long molecule of DNA.
Each DNA molecule contains many genes.
A gene is a segment of a DNA molecule that gives the
instructions for making a protein. Many of these proteins
are needed for normal cell structure and function.
2. Explain why each cell needs to have a complete set of
chromosomes. Include genes and proteins in your answer.
Many of the genes on each chromosome give the
instructions for making a large number of
proteins that are needed for normal cell structure
and function.
This figure summarizes how
new cells are produced. One
cell divides into two daughter
cells, each with a complete set
of chromosomes.
3. Suppose that, after the cell division shown in this figure, each daughter cell is preparing to
divide again. In the second column of the table, describe two things that each daughter cell
needs to do to be ready for another cell division.
How the daughter cell prepares for cell division
1
By Drs. Ingrid Waldron, Jennifer Doherty, R. Scott Poethig, and Lori Spindler, Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, © 2021. This
Student Handout and Teacher Preparation Notes with instructions for making the model chromosomes, instructional suggestions, and
background information are available at http://serendipstudio.org/exchange/waldron/mitosis.
Media Center Research Assignment/Journal Article Summary
Hint 1: Remember that each cell
needs a complete set of
chromosomes.
Dixon-Brown
interphase and mitosis
Hint 2: What else would the cell
need to do to be big enough to
divide?
Media Center Activity: Answer the following research questions. Cite atleast 4 Peer Reviewed
Sources to provide evidence for your reasoning. Once you are finished answering your research
questions you will find a journal article about Cell Division and write a 500 word summary,
please Cite the article and atleast 3 additional references, using APA style.
Research Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
What types of diseases can result when an error in cell division occurs?
What causes cancer cells?
How is the Cell Cycle involved in Cancer and other types of genetic diseases?
Explain how somatic cells are produced. Explain how gametic cells are produced.
Title of Science Journal Article: Cancer
Author(s):Deirdre S. Blanchfield
Date of Publication: Sept. 1, 2022
Journal: Unable to find
1. "The researchers found evidence that such macro-chromosomal changes alter tumor formation
related to cell division and DNA repair mechanisms."
2. "In October 2015, a research division of the World Health Organization (WHO) argued that
processed and cured meats, including bacon, ham, and sausages, cause cancer in humans, and
that eating a diet heavy in red meat likely causes cancer as well. Publishing in the journal Lancet
Oncology, WHO scientists argued that processed meats belong on its list of group-1 carcinogens
(identified cancer-causing agents) and are linked to cancers of the bowel. Other group-1
carcinogens include alcohol, cigarettes, and asbestos. Red meat was placed in the group 2A list of
substances, those "probably carcinogenic to humans.""
3. "Chemotherapy and its efficacy is related to how the drug enters the cell cycle; the design of the
therapy is to destroy enough malignant cells so that the body's own immune system can destroy
the remaining cells naturally."
4. Could not find in my article, found in biologydictionary.net/somatic-cells and
biologydictionary.net/gamete "Somatic Cells are produced through the cell division process of
mitosis. They contain two copies of each chromosome, one from an organisms mother and one
from their father." "Gametes are haploid reproductive cells in sexually reproducing organisms that
fuse with one another during fertilization. Fertilization produces a diploid cell that undergoes
repeated rounds of cell division to produce a new individual. Gametes are the physical carriers of
genetic information from one generation to the next