What is the process that produces two daughter cells identical to the parent cell?

The process that produces two daughter cells identical to the parent cell is characterized by mitosis. During mitosis, a single cell undergoes a series of carefully regulated steps leading to the duplication of its DNA and then evenly distributing the replicated chromosomes into two new nuclei. This results in two daughter cells that are genetically identical to the original cell, with the same number of chromosomes. Mitosis is essential for growth, tissue repair, and asexual reproduction in unicellular organisms.

In contrast, asexual reproduction generally refers to any reproductive strategy that results in offspring genetically identical to the parent, but it is broader in scope and can include processes like budding or fission, which may not strictly involve the same mechanism as mitosis. Meiosis, on the other hand, is a specialized form of cell division that results in gametes (sperm and eggs) with half the number of chromosomes, leading to genetic diversity in offspring. Point mutation pertains to changes in the DNA sequence that can result from various factors, but it does not involve cell division processes like mitosis.