Cell Growth and Division vocabulary

Cell Division: the process by which a cell divides to form two daughter cells. Upon completion of the process, each daughter cell contains the same genetic material as the original cell and roughly half of its cytoplasm.

Chromatid: one of the two identical "sister" parts of a duplicated chromosome.

Centromere: the most condensed and constricted region of a chromosome, to which the spindle fiber is attached during mitosis.


Interphase: the stage in the development of a cell following mitosis or meiosis, during which the nucleus is not dividing. In cells that will undergo further division, the DNA in the nucleus is duplicated in preparation for the next division.



Cell cycle: the series of events involving the growth, replication, and division of a eukaryotic cell.



Mitosis: the process in cell division by which the nucleus divides, typically consisting of four stages, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase, and normally resulting in two new cells fromed by the original cell.





Prophase: the first stage of mitosis, during which the chromosomes condense and become visible, the nuclear membrane breaks down, and the spindle apparatus forms at opposite poles of the cell.


Centriole: a small, cylindrical cell organelle, seen near the nucleus in the cytoplasm of most eukaryotic cells, that divides in perpendicular fashion during mitosis, the new pair of centrioles moving ahead of the spindle to opposite poles of the cell as the cell divides.


Spindle: a spindle-shaped structure, composed of microtubules, that forms near the cell nucleus during mitosis or meiosis and, as it divides, draws the chromosomes to opposite poles of the cell.


Metaphase: the stage in mitosis or meiosis in which the duplicated chromosomes line up along the equatorial plate of the spindle.


Anaphase: the stage of mitosis and meiosis in which the chromosomes move to opposite ends of the nuclear spindle.



Telophase: the final stage of meiosis or mitosis, in which the separated chromosomes reach the opposite poles of the dividing cell and the nuclei of the daughter cells form around the two sets of chromosomes.




Cytokinesis: the division of the cytoplasm of a cell following the division of the nucleus during cell division.




Cyclin: any of a group of proteins active in controlling the cell cycle and in initiating DNA synthesis.



Cancer: disorder in wich some of the body's own cells lose the ability to control growth.