Concept in Definition ABC
Miscellanea / / July 04, 2021
By Florencia Ucha, on Jun. 2012
At the behest of the biology is designated by the term of mitosis to that process that occurs in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells, those cells that display their information genetics enclosed within a double membrane, and through which the division mobile in which from a cell mother, two daughter cells are generated that have the same number of chromosomes and the same genetic information (DNA), thus maintaining the chromosomal endowment of those cells that result.
Biological process that causes cell division by which a mother cell generates two daughter cells that will have the same number of chromosomes and the same DNA
We are facing a process that deals with distributing the hereditary information found in DNA in a balanced way.
This process generates identical cells from the genetic point of view.
Cells multiply during this procedure and, for example, it has an enormous influence on growth, development and the body's ability to regenerate.
It should be noted that this type of process occurs in the so-called somatic cells that become the stem cell and are part of the growth of tissues and organs of living beings and generally, ends with the conformation of two separate nuclei, or karyokinesis, and the partition of
cytoplasm or cytokinesis to thereby conform the two daughter cells.The hallmark of cell division that generates mitosis is that it occurs produces the continuity of the hereditary information of the mother cell in each of the two daughter cells.
The genome is made up of a certain number of genes organized, starting from coiled chromosomes, which contain genetic information, meanwhile, before mitosis, the stem cell must make a copy of each chromosome so that both daughter cells receive the same genetic information.
The aforementioned copy takes place in the so-called interface period that alternates in the cell cycle with that of mitosis.
Phases of mitosis
For example, mitosis has four phases: prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase.
The prophase is the first of the reproduction cell in which two sets of chromosomes are formed that will have the same code genetic.
The metaphase is therefore the second phase of this process in which the disappearance of the nuclear membrane occurs and the chromosomes are located in the equatorial plane of the achromatic spindle.
For its part, anaphase involves the third moment of mitosis and is highlighted by the separation of each half of the chromosome that previously doubled, then migrating to each of the opposite poles of the cell.
And the telophase is the last of the phases, the final one, in which the nucleus is reorganized and the nuclear membrane appears.
Restore dead cells, damaged tissues and wound recovery
We must emphasize that when mitosis occurs in organisms multicellular, not only it generates new individuals but also the restitution of already dead cells, for example regenerating damaged tissues and even recovering wounds.
Mitosis failure
Although errors in this process are really rare, it is not certain that it will not fail at some point, and especially during the first cell divisions of the zygotes.
Obviously errors if they occur can be dangerous for the organism that suffers them because the next descendant of the defective stem cell will have the same failure.
It may be that a chromosome does not separate during the so-called anaphase and if this happens the daughter cell will receive two sister chromosomes and the other will be left with nothing.
This will cause a cell to have three chromosomes, producing genetic instability, something that is usual in cancer cases.
The process that is opposed to that of mitosis is called meiosis, which also involves cell division, although, unlike the previous one, it produces cells that are genetically different.
Topics in Mitosis