Interphase The cell spends most of its life in this phase. The DNA in chromosomes copies itself ready for mitosis. Prophase The DNA in chromosomes and their copies condenses to become more visible.

Progress through mitosis is traditionally divided into stages that were defined over 100 years ago from analyses of fixed material from higher plants and animals. However, this terminology often ...

Each nucleus now contains four chromosomes (two sets of two ... It can be seen in the stages shown above that mitosis maintains the chromosome number or complement of a cell.

Metaphase is particularly useful in cytogenetics, because chromosomes can be most easily visualized at this stage. Furthermore, cells can be experimentally arrested at metaphase with mitotic ...