Imagine that your liver, which has a volume of 2 liters, developed from a single
ID: 29590 • Letter: I
Question
Imagine that your liver, which has a volume of 2 liters, developed from a single embryonic precursor cell with a volume of 2000 ?m3, or 2 x 10-12 liters. How many cell division cycles would be required for the precursor cell to produce your mature liver? Determine the closest integral number. What if the control of liver organogenesis were a bit faulty, and the process went exactly 2 cell division cycles beyond this? What then would be the volume of your liver?Explanation / Answer
Volume multiplication = 10^12 Each mitosis would produce 2 cells. So, after 1st cycle -> 2x1 = 2 2nd cycle -> 2x2 = 4 = 2^2 nth cycle -> 2^n So, 2^n ~ 10^12 So, n ~ 39.86, so n = 40 cycles. If it went to 42 cycles, volume = 2^42*2*10^-12 Liters = 8.796 liters ~ 8.8 liters.