What is mitosis?
Mitosis describes the process of cell division. Cell division begins with the doubling of DNA and ends with the strangulation of the new cell. Thus, two identical daughter cells are formed from a mother cell, which contain the same genetic information.
During the entire mitosis process, both the mother cell and the two daughter cells have a double (diploid) chromosome set. In addition to interphase, mitosis is part of the cell cycle and serves to proliferate body cells, such as skin cells. Mitosis can be divided into different stages and always occurs in the same way.
Task of mitosis
The task of mitosis is cell division and thus the multiplication of body cells. A prerequisite for the course of mitosis is the preceding interphase in which the DNA is doubled. From a mother cell with a double (diploid) set of chromosomes, two identical daughter cells are created in a process that always proceeds in the same way.
These also have a double set of chromosomes, but this set consists of only one chromatid. The duplication of the DNA takes place again in the interphase. However, mitosis does not occur in all cells of our body.
One distinguishes body cells from germ cells, which are not created by mitosis but by meiosis. The result of meiosis is four daughter cells with a simple (haploid) set of chromosomes, which are ready for fertilization. Another special feature are cells that have reached a highly specialized form and subsequently do not divide anymore.
These include nerve cells or red blood cells, for example. However, mitosis plays an enormously important role in cells that limit surfaces, such as skin cells or surface cells (epithelial cells) in the gastrointestinal tract. These cells must be renewed regularly, which is the task of mitosis. The constant flow of mitosis into different stages and several control points within the interphase ensures that no mistakes are made during cell division.
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