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. 1992 Jun;38(2):118-9.
doi: 10.1016/0306-9877(92)90083-o.

On the origins of mitosis and why it is involved in cancer

D W Cotton  1 , S S Cross
Affiliations

On the origins of mitosis and why it is involved in cancer

D W Cotton et al. Med Hypotheses. 1992 Jun.

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.

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