Meiosis

Question 1

What is meiosis?

Answer 1

A type of cell division which produces four haploid cells whose chromosomes are not identical.

Question 2

Division 1

Answer 2

1) The cell duplicates its DNA before it starts to divide.
2) The chromosomes line up in pairs in the centre of the cell.
3) One chromosome in each pair comes from the mother, and one from the father.
4) The pairs are then pulled apart, so each new cell only has one copy of each chromosome.
5) Each new living cell will have a mixture of the mother’s and the father’s chromosomes (this creates genetic variation by mixing up the genes).

Question 3

Division 2

Answer 3

1) The chromosomes line up in the center of the cell again.
2) The arms of the chromosomes are pulled apart.
3) The result is four haploid gametes. Each gamete only has a single set of chromosomes. They are all genetically different.