Although prokaryotes (i.e., non-nucleated unicellular organisms) divide through binary fission, eukaryotes undergo a more complex process of cell division because DNA is packed in several chromosomes located inside a cell nucleus. In eukaryotes, cell division may take two different paths, in accordance with the cell type involved. Mitosis is a cellular division resulting in two identical nuclei is performed by somatic cells. The process of meiosis results in four nuclei, each containing half of the original number of chromosomes. Sex cells or gametes (ovum and spermatozoids) divide by meiosis. Both prokaryotes and eukaryotes undergo a final process, known as cytoplasmatic division, which divides the parental cell into new daughter cells.

The series of stages that a cell undergoes while progressing to division is known as cell cycle. Cells undergoing division are also termed competent cells. When a cell is...