AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -It turns out that the cells between your developing fingers were instructed to die long ago, while you were still an embryo. If they hadn’t done so, you would have webbed hands, or perhaps just paddles of tissue with no fingers at all.

Detailed explanation-2: -Apoptosis is programmed cell death. Webbed fingers and toes are abnormal conditions, caused by the absence of apoptosis at the 16th week of gestation, that dissolve the tissues between fingers and toes. Apoptosis leads to removal of old cells and their replacement by new cells.

Detailed explanation-3: -If apoptosis is for some reason prevented, it can lead to uncontrolled cell division and the subsequent development of a tumor.

Detailed explanation-4: -During the first stage of prenatal development in humans, all the fingers and toes are fused. However, during 6-8 weeks, cells’ death occurs as a normal and controlled part of an organism’s growth or development. At this stage, the webbing disappears due to the dissolution of the tissue between the digits by an enzyme.

Detailed explanation-5: -Mitochondria are pivotal in the control of apoptosis, being involved not only in the intrinsic but also in the extrinsic pathway.