cell division and mitosis flip book list of events

Compared to prokaryotes, eukaryotic cell cycles are far more complex. While prokaryotes reproduce by cell division (binary fission), multicellular organisms (eukaryotes) employ cell division for growth as well as cell and tissue maintenance and repair of cells and tissues. This is only conceivable because, before dividing into two daughter cells, a cell must go through a sequence of controlled and closely regulated events known as the cell cycle: a cell must first grow, duplicate its DNA, and then physically divide in order to generate identical cells. The observable uniformity, continuity, and robustness of some living forms reveal how reliably their genomes are conserved and how correctly they are duplicated.

This keeps the total number of viable cells constant, which is essential for life as we know it.Ĭells are exactly what their DNA instructs them to be. It also ensures that old cells are removed in a timely manner as we age and replaced by new cells that proliferate in a tightly controlled fashion. The cell cycle thus functions as the master regulator of tissue growth, development and proliferation. DNA is the molecule that carries and conveys hereditary material or genetic information from parents to offspring, thus holding all the information needed to construct and sustain an organism. During this process deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), also recognized as the 'molecule of life,' is accurately replicated and faithfully distributed to newly generated daughter cells. This process is divided in two main stages: the interphase, whereby a cell grows and the mitotic phase, by which cells replicate (mitosis) and divide (cytokinesis). This is, however, only conceivable because eukaryotic cells (that is, with nuclei) go through the cell cycle, a set of well-defined and tightly synchronized events.

The remarkable ability of a cell to grow and divide into two identical daughter cells underpins the success of life. Have you ever questioned how a wound heals? How does an embryo become a baby? How does a cancerous tumor grow? At the heart of these questions lies cell replication and division.

Cell division and mitosis flip book list of events