During animal cell division, a highly synchronized and tightly regulated dance of chromosomes takes place, ensuring the chromosomes split correctly into the two cells. Spindle fibers—complex machinery ...

Animals, from worms and sponges to jellyfish and whales, contain anywhere from a few thousand to tens of trillions of nearly genetically identical cells. Depending on the organism, these cells arrange ...

Scientists have uncovered a surprising new way that giant embryonic cells divide—without relying on the classic “purse-string” ring long thought essential for splitting a cell in two. Studying ...

There is variability in when and how cells divide during the development of embryos. While researchers traditionally believed this variability was an obstacle that needed to be regulated, a group now ...

MIT experiments have revealed the existence of “microcompartments,” shown in yellow, within the 3D structure of the genome. These compartments are formed by tiny loops that may play a role in gene ...

During cell division, the pericentriolar matrix (PCM; blue lines) expands. In C. elegans, the main structural protein of the PCM is SPD-5, which, upon activation, binds to γ tubulin complexes (purple ...