I know that throughout our lifetime, cells continually divide(DNA replication) and cells also undergo ‘apoptosis’ in which they die
What causes the cells themselves to divide? Do we know the rate at which cells divide or is that too difficult to determine?
How does cell division relate to cell apoptosis?
In: Biology
Apoptosis and division are mostly separate mechanisms.
As for apoptosis, it’s usually cell internal processes that trigger the cell to kill itself, sometimes it’s triggered by outside forces, most commonly by NK (Natural Killer-) Cells when they detect that a cell has gone rogue.
Cell Division has multiple triggers, bacteria basically always attempt to divide as much as possible, iirc they can double their numbers up to every 10 minutes, depending on the bacteria.
In humans for normal cells external growth hormones are required (not too sure about this one, someone correct me if I’m wrong anywhere), some cells need other triggers, in the Immune System for example when Naive Helper T Cells are exposed to a fitting antigen they start to divide as well.
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