CSC 471 Final Project: Cellular Mitosis

by
Catherine Schell

Introduction:

This project shows some of the phases of cellular mitosis, the process whereby cells divide, with each new cell retaining complete, identical copies of the genetic material of the original cell. A web search using the term “mitosis” will yield many resources for learning more about this fundamental biological process. One example of a good resource (which has photos of mitosis in onion cells) can be found here.

Description:

I used openGL primitives for creating the different components of the cell. I used a disk for the cell, cylinders for the chromosomes, and lines for much of the rest of the cellular components. The polar fibers, which extend through the cell between the two spindle poles, are composed of Bezier curves.

I modeled three phases of mitosis: prophase, metaphase, and anaphase. In prophase, the four chromosomes are copied; identical copies of each chromosome are held together by kinetechore fibers. The duplicated chromosomes are called “chromatids.” The nuclear envelope, which surrounds the nucleus, is starting to fragment. Late in prophase, shown below, the spindle poles migrate to opposite poles of the cell, and polar fibers extend between them. This apparatus helps guide the chromatids to the opposite poles of the cell.

The next phase is metaphase. In metaphase, the chromosomes line up along what is called the “metaphase plate” along the midline of the cell. The kinetechore fibers begin interacting with the polar fibers; the kinetechore fibers that are attached to each chromosome face towards opposite poles of the cell.

During the next phase, anaphase, the chromosomes separate and begin migrating to opposite poles of the cell, guided by the polar fibers.

After this stage, the cell elongates, nuclear envelopes begin to form around the chromosomes, and a cleavage furrow forms in the middle of the cell, pinching it in two. The process of mitosis is complete, and there are two identical cells instead of one!

User’s Guide:

• To toggle between the phases, press the ‘p’ key.
• To start or stop the animation, press the ‘a’ key. Please note that animation will not start in anaphase; you must press the ‘p’ key to move to prophase or metaphase to begin the animation.
• To quit, press the ‘q’ key.

Resources:

I found helpful information on several different websites; click on a topic below to go to the page.

• Sample code for the glutTimerFunc function
• Information about Bezier curves