Why is DNA replication necessary to life?
DNA represents a set of genes within the nucleus of each cell in the body and includes the blueprint for creating an entire body or a small part of it as cells divide and differentiate (into bone, flesh, hair, etc.). Many cells lose their DNA after cell division such as red blood cells generated by cell division of stem cells, because red blood cells are not required to divide during their approximately 120 days of existence. During cell division each set of DNA splits down the middle like cutting through the rungs of a helical ladder and each new cell obtains half of each ‘ladder.’ The half-ladders in each new cell are generated into whole ladders from ‘spare parts’ floating within a soup inside the nucleus. The DNA in a cell is then used to generate RNA (replications of small half-sections of DNA) that pass outside the nucleus where they are used to produce amino acids (etc.) which are the building blocks of body tissues. During reproduction each sperm and egg contain ‘half-ladders’
