In the general cell cycle there are four phases: the G1, S, G2 and M phase. The drawing below shows the cycle.
The G1 phase is also known as the growth phase, which is where the cells copy organelles and increase in size. Next, the S phase also known as the DNA synthesis phase, where the cell copies DNA. The G2 phase is the second growth phase, where the cell will continue to copy the organelles and increase in size. Lastly the M phase, where the cell will actually divide.
The process of mitosis is one of the main reasons why cancer exists. Cells go through many stages to create an exact replica of themselves. Cancer all starts off with a single cell turning into a cancerous cell, caused by a mutation in the cell’s DNA, affecting its growth.
Once this cancer cell is created, it multiplies faster than a normal cell. Many cancer cells form into what’s called a tumor. Some of the cancer cells will break off of the tumor and flow through the body’s bloodstream, creating more tumors throughout your body, this process is called metastasis. The ‘normal’ cells in your body will multiply a certain number of times, and then they’ll die. Cancer cells of the other hand will continue to reproduce, as long as they have a source of food oxygen.
This image shows the process of normal cell division (on the left), the cells are dividing slowly and in the end the cell dies. And the much more sped up process of cancer cell division (on the right), the cells just keep on dividing over and over again.
The video above is explaining how the cell cycle relates to cancer.
Binary fission is a type of asexual reproduction preformed by prokaryotic cells, where a cell divides, creating a new cell, both of those cells then have the potential to grow the same size as the original cell. The new cells that are created are called daughter cells.
The image two the left shows the process of binary fission.
The image to the left is a model made of Twizzlers, showing the cell separating during the process of binary fission.
Meiosis is when a single cells divides itself, two times; creating four daughter cells. These daughter cells contain half of the original amount of genetic information. Meiosis produces our sex cells. The purpose of meiosis is to create gametes/sex cells and to reduce a double set of chromosomes (diploid) to a single set (haploid).
Meiosis is broken down into 9 stages, in meiosis I there’s: interphase I, prophase I, metaphase I, anaphase I, telophase I and cytokinesis. In meiosis II there’s: prophase II, metaphase II, anaphase II, telophase II and cytokinesis.
The image above (left) shows the illustrations for the process of meiosis, underneath each illustration is a description of each step. The image above (right) shows telophase I and cytokinesis.
The other two images above are also showing the process of meiosis.
This is a quick video explaining the different stages of meiosis.
Mitosis is when a cell divides into two cells, creating the two daughter cells. The purpose of mitosis is to produce daughter cells, that are similar to the parent cells. The daughter cells should have the same DNA as the parent cells. The process of mitosis occurs in all eukaryotic cells. Cell division was first described by Carl Nageli in 1842, and mitosis was first discovered by Walter Flemming in 1882
The image to the left is a model of the different steps in the process of mitosis.
The image to the right shows the four different steps in mitosis, there are illustrations for each step. Underneath each illustration is a description of every step.
The image to the left shows an illustration of the process of cytokineses, under the illustration is a description of the process.
This is a quick video explaining the steps of mitosis in depth.
Cell Cycles Modeling Project 