Cell Cycle and Cell Division

• Cell cycle


  The lifespan of a eukaryotic somatic cell
• Somatic cell


  Any cell in the body of an organism except for sex cells such as sperm and egg cells
• Cell cycle

  1. Cell growth

  2. Cell division
• Interphase


  The state a cell spends most of its life in
• Phases of interphase

  • G1
  • S
  • G2
• G1 phase


  Cell is busy growing and carrying out its function
• Some cells such as muscle and nerve cells exit the cell cycle after G1 because they do not divide again
• S phase


  Cell makes a copy of its DNA
• G2 phase


  Cell undergoes further preparations for cell division
• M phase


  1. Mitosis (nuclear division)

  2. Cytokinesis (division of the cytoplasm)
• At the end of M phase, you have two daughter cells identical to each other and identical to the original cell
• Most cell growth and function happen during G1
• The cell enters the S phase when it needs to divide
• In G2, the cell undergoes further preparations for cell division
• The M phase consists of mitosis and cytokinesis