title: On the origins of mitosis and why it is involved in cancer.
abstract: 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 lost and may persist as neoplasms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Sheffield Medical School, UK.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Cotton
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Cross
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002455:Cell Division; D004249:DNA Damage; D004261:DNA Replication; D006801:Humans; D008938:Mitosis; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D009857:Oncogenes