The series of stages that a cell undergoes while progressing to division is known as cell cycle. In order for an organism to grow and develop, the organism's cells must be able to duplicate themselves. Three basic events must take place to achieve this duplication: the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which makes up the individual chromosomes within the cell's nucleus must be duplicated; the two sets of DNA must be packaged up into two separate nuclei; and the cell's cytoplasm must divide itself to create two separate cells, each complete with its own nucleus. The two new cells, products of the single original cell, are known as daughter cells.

Although prokaryotes (e.g. bacteria, non-nucleated unicellular organisms) divide through binary fission, eukaryotes (including, of course, human cells) undergo a more complex process of cell division because DNA is packed in several...