Similar to many other animal cells, when MDBK cells prepare to divide, they typically retract their surface extensions and assume a roughly spherical shape. The daughter cells produced by the cells usually retain this shape briefly, but then develop numerous blebs and undergo a series of contortions before their cytoplasm flattens and the cells fully settle on the substratum. Subsequently, the daughter cells develop their own polarity and generally begin migrating along different paths, eventually releasing all connections to their partner cell.

As demonstrated during the high speed playback of this time-lapse sequence, cell division is not always a smooth process. One of the MDBK cells (left side of the field of view) that attempts to divide late in the video remains in the pre-division spherical form much longer than the other MDBK cells that divide during the sequence. Eventually, however, two daughter cells are formed and the blebbing they experience is pronounced. Yet, the cells are not able to successfully settle on the substratum, as they are positioned on top of another cell. Accordingly, they reassume spherical geometries and are unable to initiate any form of migration before the video comes to an end.

Intermittently small cell fragments can be observed flowing across the field of view. Such fragments, which are not adequately adhered to the substratum, are carried by currents in the culture medium. Cells are not pulled along by the currents in the same manner because of the attachment points they form with the surface. In culture dishes containing a large number of cells, the amount of cell debris present is often considerable. Note, about midway through the playback of the MDBK time-lapse sequence, an abundance of cell fragments rapidly move across the field of view like a flock of migrating birds.