Asters
Okay – first thing’s first, I am *extremely* stupid when it comes to cells and biology. I want to know what asters are, what they do, why they’re needed, what happens in anastral mitosis, etc. I barely know what a centriole is, so try to stray away from actual scientific terms. Honestly, dumb it down as MUCH as possible. Literally caveman terms. Explain like I’m a five year-old caveman please.
In: Biology
Mitosis = cell division. When a cell divides, its DNA gets duplicated, then the two duplicate copies are moved to either end of the cell, and the cell splits in two down the middle.
The aster is the thing that pulls the DNA from the middle of the cell all the way to each end, to make sure each half gets a full set of DNA when the cell splits down the middle.
The centriole is the “hub” where the aster comes out of, and the aster is just a bunch of strings coming out of that hub in every direction. The strings find their way over to the DNA at the middle of the cell, attach, and then start pulling.
The aster from the right side of the cell will pull one set of DNA to the right end of the cell, and the aster from the left side of the cell will pull one set of DNA to the left end of the cell. Then, once the cell splits down the middle, the left and right halves become the 2 new cells.
Asters are needed because without them, there is nothing to separate the 2 sets of DNA that are bunched together at the middle of the cell. If the cell were to split with all the DNA still at the center, it would be incredibly messy and you wouldn’t be able to guarantee that each of the resulting cells will get a full set of DNA. By separating the sets using the strings pulling from either side, you make sure you’re splitting the DNA evenly so each resulting cell will get one complete set.
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