Introduction

Multi-cellular organisms such as ourselves are… multi-cellular. This point must be emphasised in learning about mitosis because mitosis is the process by which this is possible. A bacterium is a cell which divides to produce 2 bacteria, yet that cell is the organism itself. Multi-cellular organisms require a process by which one cell divides into two, those two into four, and so forth, until a gargantuan number of cells come alive. Cells are organised in tissues (such as skeletal muscle), tissues are organised in organs (such as the skin), and organs are organised into systems (such as the nervous system). The various systems make up the live organism.

Overview of Mitosis

Mitosis is the process by which cells divide to achieve growth and repair by simply increasing cell number. The dividing cell is called the parent cell, and the resulting two cells are called daughter cells (just a little bit sexist – sorry guys). The daughter cells are genetically identical i.e. clones, as they contain copies of the parent cell’s DNA.

Stages of Mitosis

The stages of Mitosis are; Prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase and cytokinesis.

There’s no easy way around these stages, so just bloody learn them. Actually there is an easy way awesome video time!!