  We introduce the notion of cell division-induced activity and show that the
cell division generates extensile forces and drives dynamical patterns in cell
assemblies. Extending the hydrodynamic models of lyotropic active nematics we
describe turbulent-like velocity fields that are generated by the cell division
in a confluent monolayer of cells. We show that the experimentally measured
flow field of dividing Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells is reproduced by
our modeling approach. Division-induced activity acts together with intrinsic
activity of the cells in extensile and contractile cell assemblies to change
the flow and director patterns and the density of topological defects. Finally
we model the evolution of the boundary of a cellular colony and compare the
fingering instabilities induced by cell division to experimental observations
on the expansion of MDCK cell cultures.
