This is the first of several pages explaining the four stages of mitosis, the process of eukaryotic cell division that produces two genetically identical daughter cells from a single parent cell.
No change in chromosome number occurs during mitosis because one sister chromatid from each chromosome in the parent cell passes into each of the two daughter cells (the sister chromatids separate during anaphase).
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First cell division
of a growing embryo
(click to enlarge)
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Mitosis is the process by which the somatic cells of all multicellular organisms multiply. In addition, plants produce gametes by mitosis (they make spores by meiosis). Without mitosis, complex life would not exist on Earth.
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When does mitosis occur? Mitosis occurs only in eukaryotes. Prokaryotes (archaea and bacteria) divide by binary fission. In the eukaryotic cell cycle, mitosis alternates with interphase.
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Why does mitosis occur? Mitosis allows the equal distribution of chromosomes into daughter cells. The resulting two cells are genetically identical to each other and to the parent cell that divided to produce them. Without the organized process of mitosis, chromosomes would be distributed at random into the daughter cells and the resulting cells would probably not even be viable.
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