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Beata Edyta Mierzwa (UC San Diego, La Jolla, USA)
Inspired by the intricate designs of astronomical clocks, this drawing highlights the complex mechanisms that govern cell growth and division. As the cell goes through the cell cycle, it progresses through four distinct stages that are shown on the large dial. The first stage is G1, where the cell grows and duplicates its contents. The cell then enters S phase to copy its DNA, followed by G2 to prepare itself for division. During M phase (or mitosis) the cell physically divides into two, going through another set of phases shown on the small dial – prophase, prometaphase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, and cytokinesis, while the DNA content drops from four copies of each chromosome (4N) to two copies (2N) as the cells separate, shown on on the bottom right subdial. All of these cell cycle stages are precisely orchestrated by a series of interactions between Cyclins and CDKs, as illustrated by the gears on the bottom left. Together, all of these incredibly complex steps require the cell to work like clockwork to ensure a successful division.