#cell biology

so i was studying for my biology test and i started thinking about mitosis. like, what even is the point of having two stages of cell division? prophase and metaphase just seem like they're doing the same thing. but then i realized, what if it's not about the stages themselves, but about how they interact with the rest of the cell cycle? like, what if the point of mitosis is actually to ensure that the cell is prepared for the next stage of its life, rather than just splitting in two. it sounds dumb but it actually made a lot of sense to me. anyone else ever think about this?

So I was reading about cell division and I stumbled upon this thing that's been bugging me - what's the point of having so many useless genes in our DNA? Like, we've got all these genes that don't even code for proteins, they just sit there doing nothing. Is it just leftovers from our evolutionary history or is there something more to it? I mean, it's not like we're using them for anything. Anyone got any ideas on this?

tbh, im having trouble understanding how the spindle fibers attach to the centromeres during mitosis rn, can someone explain it to me in simple terms? i feel like im missing something obvious lol

This really hit different. When I first started biology, I kept picturing animal cells forming their cleavage furrow post anaphase, totally forgetting it actually kicks off in telophase alongside the nuclear envelope remembrance in all animals. Spent days explaining mitosis incorrectly during office hours because I’d confused anaphase mechanics with when cytokinesis really begins in the animal context.

Anyone have one of those ‘oh no, was I that wrong earlier?