Pulling Power

When a cell divides, the genetic information is apportioned equally into both resulting cells. To do this, fibres cluster around the two strands of each chromosome to pull them apart. However, the process is never perfect and generates genetic faults that cause our tissues to age and, in certain circumstances can also trigger cancer. Scientists have found a protein called POLO that plays a crucial role in regulating cell division. Here, we see two cells, taken from fruit flies, in the process of dividing. White spots show the points where the fibres (stained green) have attached to the chromosome pair (coloured blue) to pull it apart. On the right, the spots are arranged in neat pairs, showing normal cell division. But in the cell on the left, without POLO, the spots are disorganised, indicating that the chromosomes are being pulled apart unequally, causing the cell serious damage.

Written by Mick Warwicker

Mick Warwicker

Writer

A freelance communications consultant and writer, Mick specialises in science and education. A science graduate and award-winning print and broadcast journalist, he was Head of Communications at Newcastle University from 2000–2011.

Website

• Tatiana Moutinho-Santos
• IBMC, Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
• Reproduced/adapted with permission from Journal of Cell Science
• Published in Journal of Cell Science 125, 576-583