What is the process by which new cells are formed for growth, repair, and replacement?

• A. Differentiation
• B. Apoptosis
• C. Cell Division
• D. Nuclear Fusion

Answer: (C)

New cells for growth, repair, and replacement come from cell division. In most body tissues, this means mitosis followed by cytokinesis, where a parent cell duplicates its genetic material and then splits into two genetically identical daughter cells. Those daughter cells can then divide again to increase cell number, differentiate into needed cell types, or replace cells lost to wear and injury. Differentiation is about how cells become specialized after they’re produced, not about making new cells in the first place. Apoptosis is programmed cell death, which reduces cell numbers, not increases. Nuclear fusion isn’t a standard step in forming new somatic cells. So the process that creates new cells for growth, repair, and replacement is cell division.