Cell Division: Mitosis and Meiosis

Cell division is a fundamental process in the life of cells, which allows for the growth and maintenance of multicellular organisms and the reproduction of unicellular organisms. There are two types of cell division: mitosis and meiosis. Mitosis is the process of making new body cells, while meiosis is the type of cell division that creates egg and sperm cells.

1. Mitosis:

• Mitosis is a process that occurs in the cell cycle, where a parent cell divides into two or more cells called daughter cells
• The cell cycle of mitosis is divided into three phases: interphase, mitosis, and cytokinesis
• During interphase, the cell grows and prepares for division by replicates its DNA and syntheses proteins
• Mitosis is the actual cell division process, where the chromosomes are duplicates and the cell splits into two identical daughter cells
• Cytokinesis is the division of the cytoplasm, which occurs in animal cells through the constriction of the cell by a ring of proteins involved in muscle contraction and other forms of cell movement

2. Meiosis:

• Meiosis is a two-step process that reduces the chromosome number by half, from 46 to 23, to form sperm and egg cells
• Meiosis ensures that humans have the same number of chromosomes in each generation and allows for genetic variation through a process of gene shuffling
• Meiosis is divided into two phases: meiosis 1 and meiosis 2
• During meiosis 1, the chromosomes are duplicates and the cell divides into two haploid daughter cells
• During meiosis 2, the chromosomes are further divided, and the cell divides into four haploid daughter cells

In animal cells, cytokinesis is achieved through the constriction of the cell by a ring of proteins involved in muscle contraction and other forms of cell movement In plant cells, the cytoplasm is divided by the formation of a new cell wall, called the cell plate, between the two daughter cells The cell plate arises from small Golgi-derived vesicles that coalesce in a plane across the equator, with each vesicle contributes its membrane to the forming cell membranes and its matrix contents to the forming cell wall[1