Sizing cells up: Researchers pinpoint when a cell is ready to reproduce

For more than 100 years, scientists have tried to figure out the cell size problem: How does a cell know when it is big enough to divide? In research conducted in budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), scientists at Rockefeller University have now identified the cellular event that marks the moment when a cell knows it is big enough to commit to cell division and spawn genetic replicas of itself. The findings provide a precise and quantitative framework for studying the possible mechanisms that allow cells to monitor and sense their size.