Biology as Poetry: Cell Biology

Bacteriophage Ecology Group

Gap Phase

That time during the cell cycle during which neither cell division nor synthesis (i.e., replication) of DNA are occurring.

Gap phases can be distinguished into what are known as G0, G1, and G2. G1 and G2 appear in that order, but not consecutively since S phase falls between them. G0 in a sense follows G1 but in actuality is more of an extension of G1, an extension that potentially can last indefinitely.

It is during gap phases – particularly G0 and to a lesser extent, G1 – that cells do everything that cells do while they are not either dividing or gearing up to divide.

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