In what stage of the cell cycle do most cells spend their time?
1 Answer
The most cells are in interphase.
Lets see below how you can determine this.
Explanation:
The interphase (inter= between) is the phase in the cell cycle which consists of three sub-stages, G 1, synthesis S and G 2.
As you can see above, 90% of cell life time the cells are in interphase. So the cell life circle goes interphase, mitosis, interphase, mitosis...until the cell dies out.
*G1, gap 1 is a subphase in the cell cycle where protein and mRNA synthesis is performed. The cell grows and cellular structures are doubled.
S (synthesis) takes place after subtype G1. In this sub-section DNA is doubled.
In G2, the cell is still growing. The cell has to go through the mechanism of DNA damage control in which the organism ensures that it does not start the mitosis before any possible damage to DNA is rectified before the cell begins to replicate. With G2 the interphase is closed.
On your picture we see that the most cells are in that phase, but 70% of your cells on your picture are in interphase.
You can see bellow that difference between the interphase and mitosis.
If you have no condensed chromosomes or if you can see the nucleus of your cell, then your cell is in the interphase.
Here on the top is the interphase illustrated:
