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Question

03:30
Question
Carol is studying mitosis in her biology class. During a biology lab, she is given information about an unknown organism. What might be the best way to test to see that the organism has undergone mitosis?
Responses
A Carol notices that segregation of homologous chromosomes occurredCarol notices that segregation of homologous chromosomes occurred
B Carol notices that the daughter cells are half the size of the parent cellCarol notices that the daughter cells are half the size of the parent cell
C Carol identifies the number of chromosomes before and after cell division to be 78.Carol identifies the number of chromosomes before and after cell division to be 78.
D Carol identifies 78 chromosomes before cell division and 39 chromosomes after cell division.Carol identifies 78 chromosomes before cell division and 39 chromosomes after cell division.

Answer 1

To determine whether the organism has undergone mitosis, the best response is:

C. Carol identifies the number of chromosomes before and after cell division to be 78.

In mitosis, a single parent cell divides to produce two daughter cells that have the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell. Therefore, if Carol counts 78 chromosomes before cell division and still counts 78 chromosomes after cell division, it indicates that the organism has undergone mitosis correctly.

In response D, if she finds 39 chromosomes after division, it suggests that meiosis (which involves the reduction of chromosome number) may have occurred instead.

Responses A and B do not directly provide evidence for whether mitosis has occurred.