mitosis

Term: mitosis

Walter Fleming (1843-1905)

Origin: Anc Greek μίτος/μίτος(=warp thread) + - -οσις/osis(=process) because chromatin of the cell nucleus appears as long threads in the first stages.

Coined : by German anatomist and founder of cytogenetics Walter Fleming  (1843-1905) who  noted that there were a number of stages of mitosis. Dividing cells had been observed almost forty years earlier by Carl Nageli, but he misinterpreted evidence of mitosis as something abnormal in the dead cells he’d observed. Flemming observed cell division in salamander embryos, where cells divide at fixed intervals. He developed a way to stain with aniline chromosomes to observe them clearly.

    The results of Flemming's research on the stages of mitosis were published in a book entitled, "Cell Substance, Nucleus and Cell Division" in 1882. Based on his research, Flemming concluded that each cell's nuclei comes from another cell nucleus.

Definition:

The entire process of cell division including division of the nucleus and the cytoplasm resulting in generally two identical cells, each containing the same number of chromnosomes as that of the original cell. Mitosis typically consists of prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.