What happens when mitosis occurs?

When mitosis occurs, one cell divides into two identical daughter cells. This process is essential for growth, tissue repair, and asexual reproduction in organisms. During mitosis, the genetic material is duplicated and evenly distributed between the two new cells, ensuring that each daughter cell has the same number of chromosomes as the original cell. This is crucial for maintaining genetic consistency throughout cell generations.

The other options represent different biological processes. For example, apoptosis refers to programmed cell death, which serves a different function in the life cycle of cells. Cell growth involves a single cell enlarging rather than dividing. Lastly, the merging of two cells into one is not part of the mitotic process and is more aligned with certain types of cellular fusion that can occur in specific contexts, but it is not relevant to mitosis. Thus, the choice indicating that one cell divides into two cells accurately describes the essence of mitosis.