The Molecular Machinery of the Cell in Action

Cell division, also referred to as mitosis, is a critical process that keeps us alive. Whether cells become dysfunctional, grow old, or get damaged, they have to be replaced, to the tune of tens of billions of cells every day. In this video, you can watch time-lapse footage of a cell dividing into two daughter cells, which takes about an hour for mammalian cells. 

This animation was created by Drew Berry of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. 

Genetic material has to be carefully copied and compacted so it can fit into the right place, and after duplication, the cell’s machinery has to make sure that the copies are evenly divided between the new cells.

Sources: WEHI, Veritaseum