Understanding the Outcomes & Processes in Mitosis & Meiosis

Question 1

Mitosis and meiosis are both forms of cell division
They have many similarities and differences that are important for their function

Mitosis………

Meiosis produces…….

Answer 1

contributes to the growth of an organism or to replace dead/dying cell

genetically different gametes for sexual reproduction

Question 2

The Different Outcomes of Mitosis and Meiosis
Number of daughter cells

mitosis

meiosis

Answer 2

2

4

Question 3

Mitosis ends with two

Answer 3

nds with two daughter cells genetically identical to each other and the parent cell
This is important so that growth and cell replacement can occur within a body continually
Every cell in an organism’s body (other than gametes) contain exactly the same genetic material - the full genome

Question 4

Meiosis ends with

Answer 4

four daughter cells all of which contain half the genetic material of the parent cell and are all different from each other and the parent
This is important for genetic variation within families and the population
Genetic variation can reduce the risk of inheriting genetic diseases

Question 5

Meiosis creates genetic variation between the gametes produced by an individual through crossing over and independent assortment
This means each gamete carries substantially different ……….

During fertilization, any male gamete can fuse with any female gamete to form a zygote

This random fusion of gametes at fertilization creates …………between zygotes as each will have a unique combination of ………

Zygotes eventually grow and develop into adults

The presence of genetically diverse zygotes contributes to the genetic diversity of a species

Answer 5

alleles

genetic variation

alleles

Question 6

It is common for a question to ask you to identify where meiosis is occurring in an unfamiliar life cycle. There is a helpful trick for this, meiosis always involves a reduction division.

This is a nuclear division that reduces the chromosome number of a cell. So when the ploidy of the cell is halved it can be said that meiosis has just occurred.