Role of Meiosis in Reproduction

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Role of Meiosis in Reproduction Meiosis reduces chromosomes. Meiosis is important because it allows the child the same number of genes as their parents. Reproductive cells do meiosis. The reason for meiosis if for a type of cell division that results in two daughter cells each with half the chromosome number of the father cell , as the production of gametes. The two distinct divisions of meiosis are Meiosis 1 and Meiosis 2. Meiosis is described as a process of reduction division because the number of chromosomes per cell is cut in half through the separation of homologous chromosomes in a diploid cell. The diploid cell that enters the meiosis becomes 4 haploid cells at the end of meiosis, each way to describe a diploid cell is (2N), it contains two sets of homologous chromosomes, diploid is also the total number of chromosomes. Haploid is the ½ number of chromosomes, also described (N). In example a human germ cell, a sperm or an egg cell, is haploid, which means it contains only one of each of the 23 chromosomes of the human genome, or it only has half the diploid (2N) number of a human somatic cell which is 46. Gametes being haploid are essential particularly during fertilization. Fertilization is the union of male and female gametes to form a zygote, where sperm joins the egg. Fertilization may be internal, when it occurs within the female body, or external, when it occurs outside. A zygote is a cell formed by two gametes after fertilization. A zygote is the initial cell formed when two gamete cells are joined by means of sexual reproduction. In multicellular organisms, it is the earliest developmental stage of the embryo. In single-celled organisms, the zygote divides to produce offspring, usually through

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