make copies of themselves through .

Bacteria. Some are helpful and some make your throat sore!

Did you ever wonder how there got to be so many of them? They keep pumping out exact copies of themselves; that’s a lot like cloning!

Why do bacteria choose this method of reproduction? Because it is super fast than . They can make your throat sore quicker that way, as that is what they do best.

Although may seem similar to binary fission, both are different types of cell division. Mitosis involves nucleus and centromeres which are not found in bacteria and other prokaryotes in which binary fission takes place. ##color(white)(xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)##Step 1 ##color(blue)(REPLICATION##:

The bacteria makes a duplicate of its DNA. This DNA carries all the instructions for the new cell about it’s mission(making your throat sore for instance!).

To get into the nitty gritty of how replication happens, this cool animation will be useful. ##color(white)(xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)##Step 2 ##color(blue)(GROWTH##:

The parent cell becomes considerably larger in size and the two DNA copies begin moving away from each other. ##color(white)(xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)##Step 3 ##color(blue)(SEGREGATION##:

The cell becomes longer and the pinches inwards from the middle, with the two DNA at opposite poles of the cell. ##color(white)(xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)##Step 4 ##color(blue)(DIVISION##

A cleft forms in the middle and the parent cell splits into two identical daughter cells, each with its own DNA. ##color(white)(xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)## The outcome of binary fission is two daughter cells which are genetically identical.

Some bacteria divide every 30 minutes. You may wonder how do they get to be so many at this rate? Well, this is where the mind blowing concept of exponential growth and natural log (##e##) applies. Over here. This is how bacteria get so much so fast.

If you found this process fascinating (which it is considering its happening right now inside all of us ), you can explore it even more and gain a deeper understanding of it through this animation:

http://highered.mheducation.com/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=swf::500::500::/sites/dl/free/0073375225/594358/BinaryFission.swf::BinaryFission