Writing in his journal about the scientists of his era,
Henry David Thoreau bemoaned their blindness to significant phenomena: “The
question is not what you look at, but what you see.” More than 150 years later,
his words still ring true.
For more than a century, scientists have been peering
through microscopes, carefully watching cells divide. Until now, however, none
has actually seen how human cells manage to divide into two equally-sized
daughter cells during mitosis.
“This is so obvious when you look at it, but no one ever
noticed it,” says Whitehead Institute Member Iain Cheeseman, referring to the
work of postdoctoral researcher Tomomi Kiyomitsu. “With careful, visual
inspection of dividing cells, you see this observation screaming out at you,
but no one ever noticed it was there.”