Which type of asexual reproduction involves DNA replication and division to form two identical daughter cells?

• A. Binary fission
• B. Mitosis
• C. Meiosis
• D. Budding

Answer: (A)

Binary fission is the way many single-celled organisms reproduce asexually. The cell copies its DNA, the chromosome duplicates, the cell grows, and a septum forms to divide the cell into two separate, genetically identical daughter cells. Because the genetic material is replicated and evenly divided, the offspring are exact copies of the parent. While mitosis also copies DNA and yields two daughter cells, it’s a general cell-division process in eukaryotes, not the specific asexual reproductive method described here. Budding creates a new individual that grows out of the parent and may detach later, so it isn’t simply a straight division into two equal offspring. So the process described is binary fission.