If a cell skipped metaphase, the two daughter cells would likely end up with the wrong number of chromosomes, often becoming damaged, non‑viable, or prone to disease like cancer.

Quick Scoop

Metaphase is the stage of mitosis where chromosomes line up neatly in the middle of the cell so each future daughter cell can get one copy of every chromosome.

If that careful “line up and check” step is skipped, chromosome separation in the next phase (anaphase) becomes sloppy and uneven.

What metaphase normally does

  • Chromosomes condense and become clearly visible, each made of two sister chromatids joined at a centromere.
  • Spindle fibers attach to each chromatid and pull them so chromosomes line up along the metaphase plate (the cell’s equator).
  • This alignment is critical to ensure each daughter cell gets the correct number of chromosomes.

You can think of metaphase like arranging test papers into two equal piles before handing them out; skip this step and some students get extra pages, others get none.

If metaphase is skipped

If the cell rushed straight past metaphase into later stages:

  • Sister chromatids might not separate properly, because they were never lined up and attached correctly to the spindle.
  • Chromosomes could be pulled unevenly to opposite poles, giving one daughter cell too many chromosomes and the other too few (aneuploidy).
  • The daughter cells might:
    • Not be exact genetic copies of the parent cell.
* Lack key chromosomes, making them damaged or non‑functional.

* In some cases, fail to form properly at all or die soon after division.

Possible fates of the daughter cells

Different outcomes are possible, but most are bad for the cells:

  1. One or both daughter cells die
    • Major chromosome loss or gain can trigger cell death pathways or make the cell too unstable to survive.
  1. One daughter cell gets extra chromosomes
    • This abnormal chromosome number (aneuploidy) is commonly seen in many cancer cells and can contribute to uncontrolled growth.
  1. Both daughter cells survive but are abnormal
    • They may be damaged, less functional, or more prone to errors and mutations in later divisions.

Why this matters in real life (2020s–2020s context)

Researchers studying chromosome segregation errors in mitosis have shown that mistakes in how chromosomes are distributed can create aneuploid or polyploid cells, which are strongly linked to tumor formation and progression.

Modern cancer biology and drug development often target checkpoints and spindle function specifically to prevent or exploit these metaphase/anaphase errors.

Simple one‑line answer

Skipping metaphase would likely cause unequal chromosome separation, producing daughter cells with abnormal chromosome numbers that are damaged, non‑viable, or potentially cancer‑prone.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.