What is Binary Fission?
Binary fission is a form of asexual reproduction which is used by all prokaryotic organisms, and some eukaryotic organisms like fungi as well. In addition to being used to duplicate whole organisms, binary fission is also utilized within the cells of eukaryotic organisms by some of the organelles. In this process, two daughter cells are produced by a single parent cell which effectively clones itself. The Escherichia coli bacterium has been used extensively by researchers studying binary fission, as it provides a classic example of this asexual reproduction method in action, and it is very abundant. In binary fission, the cell starts by duplicating its DNA to create two complete sets, and then growing to a size much larger than it usually is. As the cell grows, the sets of DNA move to opposite ends of the cell. Once the cell has achieved the right size, it splits in two, creating two daughter cells with identical DNA. Binary fission is classically used when an organism is living in a s
