Meiosis Flashcards
What is meiosis
A form of cell division that only occurs in the formation of gametes
What is the function of meiosis
To create daughter cells that are genetically different to their parent cells
why is meiosis important
Because it allows for genetic variation between parents and their offspring through sexual reproduction
How many chromosomes do gametes have
Gametes contain half the number of chromosomes of somatic cells. Gametes only have one copy of each chromosomes
What are haploid cells
Cells containing only one copy of each chromosome.
What cells does mitosis create
Mitosis creates diploid cells
How many chromosomes do gametes contain
They contain one copy of each of the 23 chromosomes
What is a homologous pair
A pair of chromosomes
In humans how many chromosomes are in gametes
Each gamete contains one copy of each of the 23 chromosomes
How many copies of homologous pairs are in a haploid cell
There is only one copy of each homologous pair of chromosomes in a haploid cell
When sexual reproduction what happens to the two haploid cells (sperm and ova)
Both sperm and ova combine during sexual reproduction to form a diploid cell which will turn into an organism
What are diploid cells
Cells that have two copies of each chromosome (example a baby having 2 of the first chromosome one from the mother and one from the father)
How many Meiosis stages are there
There are two:
Meiosis I
Meiosis II
What does meiosis I do
reduces the number of chromosomes in the cell from diploid to haploid
What does meiosis II do
It increase the number of daughter cells produced from two to four
