Describe 'Growth' as an characteristic of living organism.

Explanation

All living organisms grow.
Increase in mass and increase in number of individuals are twin characteristics of growth.
A multicellular organism grows by cell division.
In plants, this growth by cell division occurs continuously throughout their life span In Animals, this growth is seen only upto a certain age.
Cell division occurs in certain tissues to replace lost cells.
Unicellular organisms also grow by cell division.
Cell division can be easily observ in vitro cultures by simply counting the number of cells under the microscope.
In majority of higher animals and plants, growth and reproduction are mutually exclusive events.
Increase in body mass is considered as growth.
Non-living objects also grow if we take increase in body mass as a criterion for growth.
Mountains, boulders and sand mounds do grow.
This kind of growth exhibited by non-living objects is by accumulation of material on the surface.
In living organisms, growth is from inside.
Growth therefore cannot be taken as a defining property of living organisms.
Conditions under which it can be observed in all living organisms have to be explained and then we understand that it is a characteristic of living systems.
A dead organism does not grow.