Question

Both mitosis and meiosis begin with a diploid cell that contains replicated chromosomes. Explain the main differences between these two processes and what types of daughter cells produced by each.

Answer 1

Mitosis is a cell division in which one diploid cell divides into two identical diploid cells. On the other hand, a cell division which results in the reduction of chromosome number by half in daughter cells is called meiosis. Meiosis consists of meiosis I and meiosis II. After meiosis I, the number of chromosomes is reduced by half and the result is two haploid cells. Meiosis II is actually analogous to mitosis. So, in meiosis II, haploid cell divides into two identical haploid cells. In total, meiosis results in four haploid cells while mitosis results in two diploid cells.