Introduction:
This article is going to be a very easy guide to understanding the Cell Cycle that you will commonly discuss in beginner and intermediate Biology classes. Everything you will see in this article came directly from my notes that I took during my Biology class in 2014-2015 from a lecture in Forsyth County Schools. I have always found it easier to learn from other students than teachers, because we see the material in a different way than teachers do sometimes. I hope that you find some useful information in this article, and please be aware that it is a loose read for typical high school students to read. Most everything will be simplified to make it fun and easy to comprehend. Thank you!
Vocabulary:
Below you will find some common vocabulary used during the explanation of the Cell Cycle, and throughout this article. Try to become as familiar with them as you can to help you ease into understanding the various parts of the Cell Cycle.
Asexual Reproduction: Process by which offspring are produced by a single parent; does not involve joining gametes (a gamete being a haploid male or female germ cell that can bond with another germ cell of the opposite sex and create something called a zygote)
Sexual Reproduction: Process by which two gametes fuse and offspring that are a genetic mixture of both parents are produced
Cell Cycle: Pattern of growth, DNA replication, and cell divison that occurs in a eukaryotic cell
Mitosis: Process by which a cell divides it's nucleus and it's contents (when a cell makes an exact copy ot itself)
Meiosis: Form of nuclear division that divides a diploid cell into haploid cells; important in forming gametes for Sexual Reproduction
Chromosome: Long, continuous thread of DNA that consists of numerous genes and regulatory information
Chromatin: Loose combination of DNA and proteins that is present during Interphase (a phase in the Cell Cycle)
Chromatid: One half of a duplicated chromosome
Centromere: Region of condensed chromosome that looks pinched; where spindle fibers (microtubules) attach during meiosis and mitosis.
Telomere: (Part of Telophase) Repeating nucleotide at the ends of DNA molecules that do not form genes and help prevent the loss of genes - Ex. TATA box and AAAA
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Biology I: The Cell Cycle
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