Hypothesis: Observe the cells located at the root tip of an onion and identify which stage of cell division the cells are in. Introduction: Prevost and Dumas (1824) first proposed cell division, when they described cell division division in fertilized frog eggs. In 1858 Rudolf Virchow popularized the epigram one-omniscellularecellular ("Every cell originates from another similar existing cell"). Strasburger in 1873 found this epigram to be true, as he and Flemming discovered that new nuclei developed from pre-existing ones. The term mixedosis was used to describe this process by Flemming in 1882 (Tan 2006). Cell division is necessary for an organism to grow, mature, and support tissues. The division of a single cell produces a pair of daughter cells, each a fraction of the size of the primary cell. Before dividing, each daughter cell will mature to the size of the original cell. When development is complete, cell division continues as it is essential for survival. For cell division to be productive, the genetic material and nucleus must be twinned carefully, and one copy must be distributed to each daughter cell. Copying the genetic information of cells is called DNA replication, nuclear division is called mitosis. Throughout the mitotic (M) phase the cell must undergo mitosis, a process that separates the duplicated chromosomes of a cell into two identical nuclei. It then divides to form two new respective cells during cytokinesis. Mitosis occurs exclusively in eukaryotic cells and the process differs in various groups (Raikov, 1994). Mitosis is divided into distinct phases. Cells spend a smaller portion of their time involved in cell division. Somatic cells spend most of their functional lives in a state known as Interphase. ...... half of the card ...... visible. Prophase chromosomes coil so tightly that they become visible as individual structures. Metaphase chromatids move into a narrow central area called the metaphase plate. Metaphase ends when all chromatids are aligned in the plane of the metaphase plate. Anaphase The centromere of each pair of chromatids divides and the chromatids separate. The daughter chromosomes are pulled to opposite ends of the cell along chromosomal microtubules. Anaphase ends when the daughter chromosomes arrive near the centrioles at opposite ends of the cell. Telophase During telophase, each cell prepares to return to the interphase state. Nuclear membranes form, nuclei enlarge, chromosomes relax and thin strands of chromatin become visible, nucleoli reappear, and nuclei resemble those of interphase cells. This phase marks the end of mitosis