Mitosis and the cell cycle
Mitosis
Cells divide when:
- an organism grows
- an organism becomes damaged and needs to produce new cells
It is essential that any new cells produced contain genetic information that is identical to the parent cell.
The cell cycle
A growing and dividing cell goes through a series of stages called the The series of stages that a cell goes through as it is growing and dividing..
The first stages of the cell cycle involve cell growth, then Made or put together. of Deoxyribonucleic acid. The material inside the nucleus of cells, carrying the genetic information of a living being.. The single strand of DNA that makes up each chromosome produces an exact copy of itself.
The cell undergoes a type of cell division called A type of cell division which produces daughter cells identical to the parent..
In mitosis, two cells called When a cell divides, the new cells produced are called daughter cells. are produced, each identical to the parent cell.
When looking at cells with a microscope, the length of different stages of the cell cycle can be estimated using the formula:
Length of time in phase =
\(\frac {observed~number~of~cells~at~that~stage}{total~number~of~cells~observed} \times \text {total~length~of~time~of~cell~cycle}\)
Discover more about mitosis with Dr Alex Lathbridge
Listen to the full series on 大象传媒 Sounds.
Dr Alex Lathbridge breaks down the key facts about cell division.