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GCSE Biology

Why do all the daughter cells in meiosis have a unique genetic makeup? Shouldn't there be two pairs of daughter cells and two daughter cells should have the same genes?
Reply 1
Original post by VoiidDev
Why do all the daughter cells in meiosis have a unique genetic makeup? Shouldn't there be two pairs of daughter cells and two daughter cells should have the same genes?

This explains it quite well: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z3qjcj6/revision/3 there's a video and a nice diagram below
Four non-identical haploid cells are produced in meiosis :smile:

Humans usually have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Each component of a pair is different we get one from our mother, and one from our father. When cells are getting ready to divide, the genetic material is replicated, meaning that there are 2 identical strands of each chromosome (that characteristic "X" shape). A bit of "crossing over" often occurs.
The first division separates the chromosome pairs. The second division separates the replicated chromosomes.

It's all a bit confusing when the term "chromosome" can kind of refer to a few different things! But I find a nice diagram always helps to explain things :smile:
Reply 2
Original post by bl0bf1sh
This explains it quite well: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z3qjcj6/revision/3 there's a video and a nice diagram below
Four non-identical haploid cells are produced in meiosis :smile:

Humans usually have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Each component of a pair is different we get one from our mother, and one from our father. When cells are getting ready to divide, the genetic material is replicated, meaning that there are 2 identical strands of each chromosome (that characteristic "X" shape). A bit of "crossing over" often occurs.
The first division separates the chromosome pairs. The second division separates the replicated chromosomes.

It's all a bit confusing when the term "chromosome" can kind of refer to a few different things! But I find a nice diagram always helps to explain things :smile:


Thank you so much for your helpful reply

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