·
Cancer
A cancerous growth is when cells start to divide uncontrollably without any cell death due to a change/mutation inthe gene These cells are not specialized and will cause problems if this happens in an important organ as they take over the space and prevent the organ from working.
Cell division and growth
Plants and animals both grow due to these processes: You will have to know these processes by heart in I/GCSE Biology
- CELL DIFFERENTIATION - the process by which cells become specialised to complete different tasks. There is one type of cell that can be used to make any cell.
- CELL DIVISION - cells need to divide in order to grow and repair themselves
- CELL ELONGATION - This is where a plant expands, making it bigger and so making it grow. ONLY in plants
- All growth in animals happens by division. They tend to grow whilst young, reach full growth and then stop, from then on most cell division is for repair.
- In plants, growth in height is mainly due to enlongation. Cell division happens at the tips of roots and shoots. Plants grow continously. Therefore plants continue to differentiate.
Importance of differentiation
Differentiation allows specialised cells to distinguish between each other, to perform specific functions and in turn, creates variation among and between species.
Reference: https://cdn.kastatic.org/ka-perseus-images/27093facf25713adaa649e3921d32f74ab733a7f.png
Drafted by Catrina (Biology)