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How does mitosis produce two daughter cells with complete sets of chromosomes?
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Growth
Various growth stages of the Emperor gum moth caterpillar (Opodiphthera eucalypti).
Mitosis ensures that two daughter cells receive complete sets of chromosomes through a highly regulated process of duplication and distribution.12
Before mitosis begins, the cell replicates its DNA to ensure each chromosome consists of two identical sister chromatids held together at the centromere. The process then proceeds through several key stages:234
- Prophase: Chromosomes condense into distinct structures, and the mitotic spindleāa network of fibersābegins to form.25
- Metaphase: The chromosomes align along the midline of the cell, with the spindle fibers anchoring to the kinetochores at the centromeres.23
- Anaphase: The spindle fibers shorten, pulling the sister chromatids apart. Once separated, each chromatid is considered an individual chromosome.263
- Telophase: The separated chromosomes reach opposite ends of the cell, where new nuclear membranes form around them.2
Following these nuclear events, cytokinesis physically divides the cytoplasm, resulting in two genetically identical daughter cells, each containing a complete set of chromosomes.127