Intro to Anatomy 4: Cell Structure and Function

Cellular Reproduction and the Cell Cycle:

Cells reproduce by duplicating their genetic material and then physically dividing. The cell cycle is the time period from one cellular division to the next.


During cellular division, a single parent cell divides into two daughter cells. As the parent cell divides, a complete set of genetic information is transferred to each of the daughter cells. In addition, the essential cytoplasmic materials are transferred to each daughter cell, including mitochondria. So long as each daughter cell receives some endoplasmic reticulum and some mitochondria, it can synthesize most of the remaining organelles.

Cells reproduce by division into daughter cells.

Humans, like virtually all animals, are diploid. This means that normal body cells have two sets of paired chromosomes in their nuclei. Each chromosome is a single DNA molecule. For any particular trait, you have genes on two different chromosomes – one chromosome that you inherited from your mother and one that you inherited from your father. The two chromosomes that contain the genes governing some particular trait are homologous chromosomes.

A pair of homologous chromosomes. For any particular trait (hair
color, eye color, etc.), you have two chromosomes bearing the
genes for that trait. One of those chromosomes was inherited from
your father, and the other was inherited from your mother.