Read press release How cells and tissues grow
This page tells you how cells and tissues grow. There is information about
Body tissues grow by increasing the number of cells that make them up. The cells reproduce themselves exactly. One cell doubles by dividing into two. Two cells become four and so on.
This happens very fast between conception and adulthood. But once we are grown up, most cells only reproduce in order to replace others that have died, for example through injury or illness. Some cells carry on reproducing. These include sperm cells, hair cells, cells in the gut and cells that make blood in the bone marrow.
Not all cells carry on being able to reproduce. Most cells mature and become specialised for their particular job in the body. Mature cells may lose the ability to reproduce as they develop. But there will always be enough immature cells around (called stem cells) to replace cells that are damaged or killed.
When more cells are needed by the body, some cells double up to increase their numbers. They do this very precisely so that the new cells are exactly the same as the old ones. Each cell makes copies of all its genes. Then it splits into two with one set of genes in each new cell. The video below shows a cell dividing in two.
If even more cells are needed, these new cells will rest for a while and then reproduce again. The cells will carry on doing this until enough cells have been made.
Normal growth and healing is very orderly and precise. The cells know when there are enough new cells to mend a cut or when a structure such as a finger is fully grown. They send chemical messages to each other so that they stop growing and reproducing when growth or healing is complete. The diagram below shows this happening.
Scientists are still finding out how the cells do this. The chemical messages come from the genes inside the cells. Some genes become switched on (activated) and tell cells to reproduce and other genes tell them not to.
Why does a growing finger end up finger shaped? It seems the cells have a natural ability to stick together in the right place. Scientists call this cell adhesion.
Molecules on the surface of the cell match those on its neighbours. It is a bit like having a post code. The code makes it very difficult for the cell to move to the wrong place. But if it does find itself in a place where its post code is different from its neighbours, it dies.
It seems that human cells are pre-programmed to reproduce up to 50 or 60 times maximum. Then they die. Stem cells provide a pool of dividing cells that the body uses to restock damged or old cells. Other things can make the cell self destruct before it gets as far as doubling 60 times. If the genes of a cell are very badly damaged, or if it becomes detached from its proper place as explained above, it will self destruct. This is called 'apoptosis'. Scientists are doing a lot of work on apoptosis at the moment. If the scientists can understand what makes a cell self destruct, they might be able to use this to develop cancer treatments in the future.
Cancer cells are different from normal cells in a number of very important ways. Look at our section on the cancer cell for more information about this.
Rated 4 out of 5 based on 13 votes
- Share this: Tweet
-
-
- Print this page
-
Email this page
Increase text size
Decrease text size
Print page
Print basket
Save pages here and print in one go
Mrs Renée Dangoor
CancerHelp UK is generously supported by Dr N E Dangoor CBE to honour the life of Mrs Renée Dangoor
