What is Mitosis?

• A. The stage of genetic recombination.
• B. The process of cell growth without division.
• C. The phase of DNA replication.
• D. Active cell division.

Answer: (D)

Mitosis is the stage of the cell cycle where the cell actively divides by distributing its genetic material into two daughter nuclei. It is the nuclear division phase that ensures each new nucleus receives an identical set of chromosomes, and it is typically followed by cytokinesis, which splits the cytoplasm to form two separate cells. This is why the best description is active cell division: mitosis drives the actual division process, whereas the other options describe processes that are not what mitosis does—the genetic material is not recombined here (that’s associated with meiosis), the cell grows without dividing, and DNA replication occurs before mitosis, in the S phase of interphase.