READ: The Cell Cycle
2. Introduction- Cell Division and the Cell Cycle
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Cell Division and the Cell Cycle
What do you think this colorful picture shows? If you guessed that it’s a picture of a cell undergoing cell division, you are right. In fact, the picture is an image of a lung cell stained with fluorescent dyes undergoing mitosis, specifically during early anaphase. You will read about mitosis, a type of cell division, in this chapter.
Cell division is just one of the stages that all cells go through during their life. This includes cells that are harmful, such as cancer cells. Cancer cells divide more often than normal cells, and grow out of control. In fact, this is how cancer cells cause illness. In this chapter, you will read about how cells divide, what other stages cells go through, and what causes cancer cells to divide out of control and harm the body.
Lesson Objectives
- Contrast cell division in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
- Identify the phases of the eukaryotic cell cycle.
- Explain how the cell cycle is controlled.
- Define cancer, and relate it to the cell cycle.
Vocabulary
Introduction
You consist of a great many cells, but like all other organisms, you started life as a single cell. How did you develop from a single cell into an organism with trillions of cells? The answer is cell division. After cells grow to their maximum size, they divide into two new cells. These new cells are small at first, but they grow quickly and eventually divide and produce more new cells. This process keeps repeating in a continuous cycle. Watch the following video entitled Cell Division and the Cell Cycle.
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