In biology, binary fission is the asexual reproductive process used by prokaryotes and results in the reproduction of a living cell by division into two equal, or near equal, parts. It begins when the DNA of the cell is duplicated. Duplication of DNA inside cells is called DNA replication. Each circular strand of DNA then attaches to the plasma membrane, which grows inwards and splits the cell into two daughter cells.

This type of asexual reproduction theoretically results in two identical cells. However, bacterial DNA has a relatively high mutation rate. This rapid rate of genetic change is what makes bacteria capable of developing resistance to antibiotics and helps them exploit invasion into a wide range of environments.

Organisms that reproduce by binary fission include:

• bacteria (for example, Rickettsia species that cause diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever)
• Entamoeba histolytica (a protozoan that is a human intestinal parasite)
• Pyrodictium abyssi, an anaerobic hyperthermophilic archaea of deep-sea Hydrothermal vents.
• Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a fungal organism (yeast)

See also

• cell cycle
• cell division
• cytokinesis
• cell growth

This article contains material from the Science Primer (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/About/Primer) published by the NCBI, which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain [1] (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/About/disclaimer.html).