Meiosis
Now that you’ve learned about mitotic and meiotic cell division, you
understand that the process of mitosis results in cells that are
identical to the parent cell whereas in meiosis, the daughter cells that
are produced are genetically different from the parent cell. Meiosis
introduces variation into populations of sexually reproducing organisms
while mitosis produces cells for growth and cell specialization. In this
post you will demonstrate understanding of how meiosis contributes to
genetic variability and why this variability is important.
Task
This week’s discussion involves 1 part. Be sure to respond completely to the prompt in your post.
How would children look if humans would reproduce through mitosis
instead of using meiosis? Would there be any pitfalls in a population of
humans if mitosis were the primary method for reproduction? Please
remember to add a question to engage your classmates in the discussion.
Sample Solution
Mitosis is responsible for nearly all of your body’s cell division. Throughout your life, it adds new cells throughout development and replaces old and worn-out cells. Mitosis’ purpose is to make daughter cells that are genetically identical to their mothers, down to the last chromosome.
Meiosis, on the other hand, has only one function in the human body: it produces gametes (sex cells such as sperm and eggs). Its purpose is to produce daughter cells that have exactly half the number of chromosomes as the parent cell.
To put it another way, in humans, meiosis is a division process that transforms us from a diploid cell to a haploid cell.
