Question

Akari graphed the mass of the DNA in a cell's nucleus over time and noticed that the DNA mass changed.Which statement best explains the increase in DNA mass at the beginning of hours 12 and 36?A.The DNA replicates prior to cell division.B.The DNA unwinds and separates into two daughter cells.C. The cell completed a second round of cell division, segregating the DNA into four daughter cells.D.The cell grows and increases the volume of the cytoplasm.

Answer 1

DNA and cell division

The function of cell division is to increase the number of cells in an organism, however, for cell division to occur, a series of steps are required so that the genetic material remains the same.

Thus, before cell division actually occurs, there is a period in which the genetic material of that cell is duplicated so that this material is divided among the cells that will be formed.

So what happened in the nucleus to change the mass of DNA is that the DNA was duplicated. So alternative "A" is the answer.