We generally view the “cell cycle” as a robust, cell-autonomous biochemical oscillator that drives the division of eukaryotic cells. The underlying “engine” of eukaryotic cell division is largely conserved in evolution. Its main effectors are enzymes that control each other's activity as reciprocal “friends” and “enemies” and that interact, in a complex succession of positive and negative feedback loops, to generate the macroscopic events and transitions that are the most evident and exciting feature of dividing cells. If three or more decades of studies have allowed unveiling the general plot of the cell cycle, new elements of this complex regulatory network continue to emerge. Such advances are captured in ever more sophisticated and realistic models of cell cycle progression.
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