Cell Divisions

1. Describe the similarities and differences between mitosis and meiosis.

-mitosis produces daughter nuclei that contains same number of chromosomes as the parent
nucleus however meiosis produces daughter nuclei containing half of the number of
chromosomes as the parent nucleus.
-Crossing over occurs only during meiosis while there is no crossing over in mitosis.
-mitosis involves only one nuclear division, meiosis involves two nuclear divisions.
-in mitosis, pairing of homologous chromosomes does not occur. however, in meiosis,
homologous chromosomes pair at prophase I
mitosis has two nuclear division and meiosis has only one
2. What is the importance of mitosis?
-to replace the cells that are dead as mitosis produces cells that have the same number of
chromosome,with the same genetic material.
-enables growth of an organism
-allows asexual reproduction to occur
-ensure that all DNA needed for subsequent cell division and differentiation is present.

3. What is so special about meiosis?

Genetic variation
Random assortment of chromosomes(metaphase)
crossing over of chromosomes at the chiasma
Crossing over(prophase 1)
produces new combination of alleles along the chromosomes(anaphase 1)
haploid cells (gametes)
independent assortment of chromosomes
4. What are homologous chromosomes?
they have the same shape,same genes and same length
These copies have the same genes in the same location or loci.
5. What is the significance of variation?
-To ensure the survival of the species during certain circumstances.
-Prevent extinction, natural selection, evolution.
-Better chance of survival
-Adapt better to changes in environment
-Weed out inferior species
-More natural resistance to diseases or environmental stress
-Ensure that there are no identical individuals
6.Why is a reduction division( it refers to meiosis ) important in organisms that
reproduce sexually?
- To ensure each species fixed number of chromosomes are maintained

What does it mean by reduction division? ( with reference to qn 6)

It means the daughter cells have a reduced number of chromosomes than the original
cells