ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Mitosis

Mitosis is like a magic trick that happens inside our body to make new cells. Have you ever built a tower with Lego blocks? Imagine you have a tower of blocks, and you want to make two towers out of one. You need to split the blocks into two equal parts, right?

That is what happens in mitosis. The cell, which is the building block of all living things, splits into two new identical cells. First, the cell checks if it has to divide or not. If it needs to divide, it enters the mitosis process.

The cell puts on a show during mitosis, and it has many different stages. The first stage is when the DNA inside the cell is copied, and the cell prepares for division. The second stage is when the cell divides its nucleus, which controls everything in the cell. The third stage is when the cell splits the rest of its contents into two equal parts, and finally, the two new identical cells are created.

Mitosis is like a choreographed dance where all the moves have to be perfect, or the whole thing won't work. If something goes wrong in mitosis, it can lead to diseases like cancer.

In summary, mitosis is like a magic trick of cell division that helps our body create new cells. It is an essential process for our growth, development, and repair.