Re-staging mitosis: a contemporary view of mitotic progression

The process of cell division, or mitosis, has fascinated biologists since its discovery in the late 1870s. Progress through mitosis is traditionally divided into stages that were defined over 100 years ago from analyses of fixed material from higher plants and animals. However, this terminology often leads to ambiguity, especially when comparing different systems. We therefore suggest that mitosis can be re-staged to reflect more accurately the molecular pathways that underlie key transitions.