---
title: "Mitosis: Two Cells That Match the One They Came From"
url: https://www.learningloftinstitute.com/glossary/mitosis
source: Learning Loft Institute
language: en
updated: 2026-08-21
section: "Glossary › Mitosis: Two Cells That Match the One They Came From"
---
# Mitosis: Two Cells That Match the One They Came From
> **Answer.** Mitosis is the division of a cell's nucleus into two nuclei with identical sets of chromosomes, giving two daughter cells genetically identical to the parent and to each other. The DNA is copied before it begins, which is why the chromosome number stays at 46. Growth, repair and asexual reproduction all depend on it.
## Key facts
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| Definition | Mitosis is the division of a cell nucleus that produces two daughter cells with identical DNA and the same chromosome number as the original. |
| Where students meet it | Grade 10 science, in the cell cycle topic, and again wherever growth, repair and stem cells are examined at IGCSE level. |
## Copy first, divide second
The question worth answering is how one cell becomes two without either of them ending up short. The answer is that all the copying is done in advance. During interphase, before mitosis starts, the cell grows, makes more ribosomes and mitochondria, and replicates every chromosome so that each exists as two identical copies joined together.
Mitosis itself is the separation. It pulls one copy of each chromosome to each end of the cell, and only then does the cytoplasm and cell membrane divide, in a step called cytokinesis. Strictly, mitosis is the nuclear division alone, and the whole sequence of growth, replication, mitosis and cytokinesis is the cell cycle.
That order explains the result stated in every definition. The daughter cells are genetically identical because they received copies of the same molecules, and the chromosome number is unchanged because the doubling had already happened.
## The four stages, in order
The classical stages are prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase, remembered as PMAT. Not every syllabus asks for them by name — some describe the cell cycle in three broader stages instead — so check what your course requires before memorising them.
What happens in each is short enough to state in a line:
- Prophase — chromosomes condense and become visible, and the membrane around the nucleus breaks down
- Metaphase — chromosomes line up across the middle of the cell
- Anaphase — the copies are pulled apart to opposite ends by spindle fibres
- Telophase — a nuclear membrane forms around each new set of chromosomes
- Cytokinesis — the cytoplasm and cell membrane divide, producing two separate cells
## What mitosis is actually for
Three jobs, and identical daughter cells are what all three need. Growth: a whole organism is built from one fertilised egg by repeated mitosis. Repair and replacement: skin, gut lining and blood cells wear out constantly and are replaced with cells that match. Asexual reproduction: organisms that reproduce without gametes, such as a strawberry plant putting out runners, produce offspring genetically identical to the parent.
The same process is behind two things that sound unrelated. Stem cells divide by mitosis before differentiating into specialised cells, which is the basis of every proposal to grow replacement tissue. And when the controls on mitosis fail, cells divide when they should not, forming a tumour.
## Questions
### What is the difference between mitosis and meiosis?
Mitosis makes two cells, identical to the parent and to each other, keeping the chromosome number the same. Meiosis makes four cells, all genetically different, each with half the chromosome number, and only for producing gametes. Mitosis is for building and maintaining a body; meiosis is for sexual reproduction.
### What are the four stages of mitosis?
Prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase. Chromosomes condense and the nuclear membrane breaks down; they line up in the middle; the copies are pulled to opposite ends; new nuclear membranes form. Cytokinesis, the splitting of the cytoplasm, follows and is not counted as one of the four.
### How many cells does mitosis produce?
Two, each with the same number of chromosomes as the cell they came from — 46 in a human body cell — and each carrying an identical set of alleles. If a question describes four cells, or cells with half the chromosome number, the process is meiosis and not mitosis.
### Where does mitosis happen?
In body cells throughout the organism, and continuously in the places that renew fastest: the skin, the lining of the gut, and the bone marrow that makes blood cells. In plants it is concentrated in the meristems at root and shoot tips, which is where growth in length occurs. The only cells not produced this way are gametes.
### Are the two cells from mitosis really identical?
Genetically, yes, barring mutation. DNA replication is extremely accurate but not perfect, and an uncorrected copying error will be passed to a daughter cell. The cells may also differ in size or in how much cytoplasm they receive. The identical in the definition means identical alleles, not identical in every respect.
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