Campbell Biology Chapter 12 Outline
Mica Piro Chapter 12: The Cell Cycle Most Cell Division Results in Genetically Identical Daughter Cells (12.1) Cellular Organization of the Genetic Material A cell?s endowment of DNA, its genetic information, is called its genome A prokaryotic genome is often a single DNA molecule Eukaryotic genomes usually consist of a number of DNA molecules All of this DNA has to be copied, or replicated, before the cell can divide to form genetically identical daughter cells, and then the 2 copies must be separated so that each daughter cell ends up with a complete genome The replication and distribution of so much DNA is manageable because the DNA molecules are packaged into structures called chromosomes, because they take up certain dyes used in microscopy