On the origins of mitosis and why it is involved in cancer.

doi:10.1016/0306-9877(92)90083-o

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Article

On the origins of mitosis and why it is involved in cancer.

Medical hypotheses - 1 Jun 1992

Cotton D W, Cross S S

Abstract excerpt

It is suggested that mitosis arose in evolution as a mechanism for 'excreting' damaged DNA (mutations). The mechanism for excretion involved replication of the DNA and was thus a pre-adaptation that could be used for cell replication. In multicellular organisms the mutated cells cannot always be...

Topics

Animals
Biological Evolution
Cell Division
DNA Damage
DNA Replication
Humans
Mitosis
Models, Biological
Mutation
Neoplasms
Oncogenes

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