OCR General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Biology Practice Exam

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What is the primary purpose of mitosis?

To produce gametes for reproduction
To create cells that are identical to the parent cell
To form different types of tissues and organs
To reduce the number of chromosomes in a cell

The correct answer is: To create cells that are identical to the parent cell

The primary purpose of mitosis is to create cells that are identical to the parent cell. Mitosis is a process by which a single cell divides to produce two genetically identical daughter cells, maintaining the same number of chromosomes as the original cell. This is crucial for growth, tissue repair, and asexual reproduction in multicellular organisms. During mitosis, the replicated chromosomes are evenly distributed to ensure that each daughter cell receives a complete set of genetic information. This ensures that the cellular function and characteristics remain consistent with those of the parent cell. This process is essential for maintaining genetic stability within an organism. The other options refer to processes that are distinct from mitosis. The production of gametes is associated with meiosis, which reduces the chromosome number and is involved in sexual reproduction. Creating different types of tissues and organs occurs during developmental processes such as differentiation, not directly through mitosis. Lastly, reducing the number of chromosomes is a characteristic of meiosis, not mitosis, which retains the chromosome number in the daughter cells.