Most rod-shaped bacteria divide by splitting into two around the middle after their DNA has replicated safely and segregated to opposite ends of the cell. This seemingly simple process actually demands tight and precise coordination, which is achieved through two biological systems: nucleoid occlusion, which protects the cell’s genetic material from dividing until it replicates and segregates, and the “minicell” system, which localizes the site of division around the middle of the cell, where a dividing wall will form to split it in two.