Understand meiosis - Middle School Life Science

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Question

What is meiosis?

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Answer

Meiosis is a process where a single cell divides twice to produce four sex cells containing half the original amount of genetic information. These daughter cells are all genetically identical. Since the four daughter cells only have half the number of chromosomes of the parent cell, they are considered haploid. The main purpose of meiosis is to produce sex cells which are later combined in sexual reproduction to increase genetic variation. Meiosis is where crossover and recombination can take place, further increasing the genetic variation of daughter cells.

Some key differences between meiosis and mitosis are: Mitosis involves the division of body cells, while meiosis involves the division of sex cells. Two daughter cells are produced in mitosis, while four are produced in meiosis. Mitosis daughter cells are diploid, but meiosis daughter cells are haploid. Meiosis creates more genetic variation than mitosis.

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