Meiosis and Mitosis

Question 1

State that meiosis is a reduction division of a diploid nucleus to form haploid nuclei.

Answer 1

Meiosis is called reduction division because the daughter cells have only half the chromosomes of the original parent cell. The purpose of Meiosis is to produce gametes (also known as sex cells such as sperms in male and eggs in female). Gametes are haploid cells and haploid cells have half the number of chromosomes compared to a somatic cell, which is diploid.

Question 2

Outline the process of meiosis, including pairing of homologous chromosomes and crossing over, followed by two divisions, which results in four haploid cells.

Answer 2

Meiosis is divided into two stages: Meiosis I and Meiosis II.