Final answer:
When mitosis occurs without cytokinesis, it leads to cells with more than one nucleus. This results from the genetic material being divided without the subsequent division of the cell's cytoplasm, possibly leading to larger, abnormal cells that can be indicative of cancer.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the cells of some organisms, when mitosis occurs without cytokinesis, the resulting condition is cells with more than one nucleus. This happens because the cell divides its genetic material during mitosis but fails to complete the process by not undergoing cytokinesis, which is the division of cytoplasm to form two separate cells. This cell cycle aberration can lead to larger cells containing multiple nuclei, which is often an unwanted phenomenon that could indicate the presence of cancerous cells.
Cell cycle control is crucial for an organism's health as it ensures that cells divide correctly and maintain proper function. If this control is lost, cells may begin to divide uncontrollably, which is a characteristic of cancer, leading to the formation of tumors.
The cell cycle has two major phases: interphase, where the cell grows and the DNA is replicated, and the mitotic phase, where the cell actually divides. The mitotic phase includes karyokinesis (the division of the cell's nucleus) and usually cytokinesis. However, when cytokinesis does not occur, the result is a multinucleate cell, which has replicated DNA and might be larger in size but hasn't physically separated into two individual daughter cells.