Mitosis

Like many things, cells wear out and die. If an organism is to live and grow it must reproduce. Therefore cell division serves an important role in an organism's health and growth. Cell division occurs rapidly in living organisms. For example, in an adult human, millions of cells divide each second to maintain homeostasis (the proper balance in cells).

Cell division begins with interphase, when the cell replicates all of its genomic and cytoplasmic material and prepares for division. After preparation is complete, the cell enters the 4-phased mitosis. In mitosis, the cell sequentially goes through prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. Immediately after the completion of telophase, cytokenesis is initiated to end cell division by literally separating the cell in two.

Please choose from the links below to see the different stages of mitosis.

        Interphase

        Mitosis 1: Prophase

        Mitosis 2: Metaphase

        Mitosis 3: Anaphase

        Mitosis 4: Telophase

        Cytokenesis

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