In 1982, Joe Jackson sang, ”There’s always something breaking us in two.”
Earlier in mitosis, the cell packed up its chromosomes and split them into two equal sets. (See previous posts about prophase, metaphase, and anaphase) In the last stage of mitosis–telophase–the chromosomes unwind before the cell divides in a process called “cytokinesis.”
In 1980, when Joy Division sang, “Love will tear us apart again,” they were thinking about cytokinesis in an animal cell where two “daughter cells” are pinched apart by strong molecular forces.
Crowded House were thinking about plant cells when, in 1986, they sang, “They come, they come to build a wall between us.” In plant cells, a cellulose wall is erected to separate the two daughter cells. (121 words–and three 80s music references)
Benjamin Schwartz
Here’s a cytokinesis cartoon by Benjamin Schwartz.
I love Ben’s cartoons (which can be seen at @bentschwartz, and at CartoonStock). Dr. Benjamin Schwartz is a cartoonist for The New Yorker and a faculty member at Columbia University Medical Center. He teaches in the Narrative Medicine program. The program uses art and storytelling to train expressive and empathetic physicians. His cartoons are great–really funny and beautiful to look at. Here are a few of my favorites: