Answer 1:
Yes, every cell in the past 2 or 3 billion
years has come from another cell. As far as
scientists know, life has not been newly created
since the first cells developed billions of years
ago. The process of going from the components of
living things to living things is complicated and
not well understood. The information necessary for
one cell to become two cells is contained in the
cells themselves. Therefore, the only thing that
knows how to make cells is other cells.
Cell division is one of the most fundamental
properties of living things because the ability to
grow and make identical copies is one of the
things that distinguishes living from nonliving
things. Nobody currently knows why new cells
don’t just appear, but these new cells would
probably wouldn’t be as good as surviving as well
established cells.
Interesting results of the fact that cells come
from other cells is that any living thing that
grow is still alive. So, an apple seed or
acorn still contains living cells since it turns
into a tree. |