To divide or not—a cellular feedback loop enables new cells to make a fateful decision
Tuesday, July 26, 2016 - 10:02
in Biology & Nature
It is one of the wonders of nature: multiplying cells are able to precisely copy their genetic material, once and only once, and spatially segregate the resulting two sets of chromosomes when the time comes to separate into two "daughter" cells. Just in our blood system alone, we have about 500 million cells born in the bone marrow every minute of our lifetime. Inside each of these cells, the DNA in chromosomes has to be accurately duplicated and then evenly segregated into the daughter cells as they divide.