What is the term used to describe cell division?

The term that describes cell division is mitosis. Mitosis is a process through which a single cell divides to produce two identical daughter cells, each containing the same genetic material as the original cell. This process is essential for growth, tissue repair, and asexual reproduction in organisms.

Mitosis typically involves several stages: prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase, culminating in cytokinesis, where the cell fully divides. The importance of mitosis cannot be overstated, as it allows for the maintenance of genetic consistency within the cells of an organism and is crucial in processes like healing and development.

While meiosis, another form of cell division, involves the division of germ cells to produce gametes with half the number of chromosomes, it is specifically related to sexual reproduction and not general cell division. Fission refers primarily to a form of asexual reproduction in single-celled organisms and isn't typically used to describe the process of cell division in multicellular organisms. Replication, while related to the process of DNA copying before a cell divides, does not define the act of cell division itself.