• Question: How do tissues grow?

    Asked by anon-255121 to Sophie on 19 May 2020.
    • Photo: Sophie Pritchard

      Sophie Pritchard answered on 19 May 2020:

      Hi Hisham, great question! Tissues grow by cell division. Every cell needs energy, oxygen and nutrients to be able to replicate it’s DNA and proteins. Once it has created all the DNA and proteins needed to make a second cell, it divides, replacing dead cells or making the tissues bigger. Some tissues are able to regenerate (regrow) after being damaged. This happens when the liver is damaged by excessive alcohol consumption. It takes a long time, but slowly the cells divide and replace the tissue that has been lost. Similarly, our skin is continuously shedding and it needs to be replaced because it acts as a protective barrier for our organs. It’s important that we eat a healthy balanced diet, exercise and get plenty of sleep so that our bodies are able to repair themselves and regrow 🙂 I hope that helps to answer your question!

Comments

  • Photo: Alena

    Alena commented on :

    Hi Hisham, as Sophie said, cells divide by duplicating their DNA and their cellular components. So crucial organelles like mitochondria need to be multiplied as well so that when the ‘parent’ cell divides into two, each daughter cell has its own copy of the whole genome and the organelles it needs to function. But until when do tissues grow? they don’t keep growing indefinitely, ‘a big heart’ is not meant literally! for this the extracellular matrix is very important. This is a mesh of proteins that form a scaffold to support the cells as they grow. There are signals between the cells and also from the matrix or scaffold guiding the cells to divide and to stop. These processes together determine how tissues grow.