Question

What are the 5 stages of the cell cycle?

Answer 1

The five stages of the cell cycle are:

Interphase, which is in turn classified into G1, S, and G2 phases, Mitosis, also called the M phase, is further divided into 4 parts: prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.

Prophase:

1. One of the first things that happen during prophase is that the cell’s (now double-helping of) DNA condenses into pairs of chromosomes.
2. Prophase is the first phase of mitosis, the process that separates the duplicated genetic material carried in the nucleus of a parent cell into two identical daughter cells.
3. During prophase, the complex of DNA and proteins contained in the nucleus, known as chromatin, condenses.

Metaphase:

1. During a brief time window called prometaphase (the “before metaphase”), the membrane around the chromosomes breaks down.
2. This will release the chromosomes inside the cell, and they will affix to the mitotic spindle on the equatorial plane.
3. The spindle is there to ensure that each daughter cell will receive a full copy of the original’s DNA.

Anaphase:

1. During anaphase, the ‘glue’ holding each chromosome pair together breaks down and their members get pulled to the opposite sides of the cell — by this point, each half of the mother cell harbors a complete copy of its DNA, and the actual division can begin.
2. The chromosomes are pulled by kinetochore microtubules, which start to shorten towards the opposing centromeres.

Telophase:

1. Since cells are really a tidy lot, the new daughter cells start re-forming their internal structures even while they’re still connected along the membrane.
2. The mitotic spindle is the first structure to be broken down, its building blocks recycled into the new cells’ support skeletons.