Cell division is the process by which two daughter cells are reproduced from a single cell. Two types of division may occur: mitosis and meiosis. Meiosis produces germ cells with a haploid set of chromosomes by one round of DNA replication and two rounds of cell division. Mitosis, however, takes place in somatic cells and generates two diploid daughter cells that are identical to the original cell. The orchestrated sequence of cellular processes by which one mother cell grows and divides into two daughter cells is termed cell division cycle, or cell cycle. In multicellular organisms, a precisely regulated balance between cell division and cell death is essential for normal development and homeostasis.A typical cell cycle consists of four phases: a G1 phase, which is the first gap; an S phase, in which DNA synthesis takes place; a G2 phase or second gap; and an M phase, otherwise known as the mitotic phase. The G1-S-G2 phases are collectively termed interphase. Based on morphological changes, the mitotic phase can be further divided into prophase (DNA condensed to form sister chromatids), metaphase (sister chromatids migrate to the equatorial plane of the cell and are oriented in the center of the mitotic spindle), anaphase (simultaneous separation of all the sister chromatids at their centromeres), and telophase (chromosomes uncoil and new nuclear membranes When Cells Die II, Edited