Ability to reproduce is one of the hallmark features of all life forms by which 
new organisms are produced from their progenitors. During this process each cell 
duplicates its genome and passes a copy of its genome to the daughter cells 
along with the cellular matrix. Unlike bacteria, in eukaryotes there is a 
definite time gap between when the genome is duplicated and when it is 
physically separated. Therefore, for precise halving of the duplicated genome 
into two, it is required that each pair of duplicated chromosomes, termed sister 
chromatids, should be paired together in a binary fashion from the moment they 
are generated. This pairing function between the duplicated genome is primarily 
provided by a multimeric protein complex, called cohesin. Thus, genome integrity 
largely depends on cohesin as it ensures faithful chromosome segregation by 
holding the sister chromatids glued together from S phase to anaphase. In this 
review, we have discussed the life cycle of cohesin during both mitotic and 
meiotic cell divisions including the structure and architecture of cohesin 
complex, relevance of cohesin associated proteins, mechanism of cohesin loading 
onto the chromatin, cohesion establishment and the mechanism of cohesin 
disassembly during anaphase to separate the sister chromatids. We have also 
focused on the role of posttranslational modifications in cohesin biology. For 
better understanding of the complexity of the cohesin regulatory network to the 
readers, we have presented an interactome profiling of cohesin core subunits in 
budding yeast during mitosis and meiosis.