The Cell Cycle

The cell cycle
The cell cycle, or cell-division cycle, is the series of events that take place in a cell leading to its division and duplication (replication). In cells without a nucleus(prokaryotic), the cell cycle occurs via a process termed binary fission. In cells with a nucleus (eukaryotes), the cell cycle can be divided in two periods: interphase—during which the cell grows, accumulatingnutrients needed for mitosis and duplicating its DNA—and the mitosis (M) phase, during which the cell splits itself into two distinct cells, often called "daughter cells" and the final phase,cytokinesis, where the new cell is completely divided. The cell-division cycle is a vital process by which a single-celled fertilized egg develops into a mature organism, as well as the process by which hair,skin, blood cells, and some internal organs are renewed.
The cell cycle consists of four distinct phases: G1 phase, S phase (synthesis), G2 phase (collectively known as interphase) and M phase(mitosis). M phase is itself composed of two tightly coupled processes: mitosis, in which the cell's chromosomes are divided between the two sister cells, and cytokinesis, in which the cell's cytoplasmdivides in half forming distinct cells. Activation of each phase is dependent on the proper progression and completion of the previous one. Cells that have temporarily or reversibly stopped dividing aresaid to have entered a state of quiescence called G0 phase.

Mitosis is the process by which a eukaryotic cell separates the chromosomes in its cell nucleus into two identical sets in two nuclei. Itis generally followed immediately by cytokinesis, which divides the nuclei, cytoplasm, organelles and cell membrane into two cells containing roughly equal shares of these cellular components.Mitosis and cytokinesis together define the mitotic (M) phase of the cell cycle - the division of the mother cell into two daughter cells, genetically identical to each other and to their parent cell....