Mitosis vs. Meiosis
Cell division plays a very important role in the life cycle of a cell. Without cell division all living organisms would fail to reproduce, eventually dying out. Cell division involves two major steps: nuclear division and cytokinesis. Nuclear division is broken into two different types: mitosis and meiosis. Mitosis and meiosis are similar processes in that they both result in the separation of existing cells into new ones. They differ, however, in their specific processes as well as in their products. The reason for these differences lies in the difference in the class of cells that each process creates. Mitosis is the process in which a parent cell splits into two daughter cells that are exactly alike. While meiosis, known as reduction division, produces daughter cells with half the information contained in the parent cell. Mitosis can occur in either haploid or diploid cells, whereas meiosis occurs only in cells with the diploid or polypoid number of chromosomes. Another difference between the two is that during meiosis each diploid nucleus divides twice, producing a total of four nuclei, while in mitosis each nucleus divides only once producing on
With the completion of Meiosis I, the second part of Meiosis, Meiosis II, still needs to occur in order for the chromatid pairs to separate. Meiosis II occurs in the two cells that were produced in Meiosis I. The first step of Meiosis II is Prophase II, where the centrioles begin to move to the opposite poles of the cell. Also the condensing of chromosomes becomes visible and the nuclear envelope disappears and then spindle fibers form in prophase II. Next, in Metaphase II the chromatid pairs are lined up at the cell?s equator. Then in Anaphase II the two sets of newly separated chromosomes are pulled to the opposite poles of the cell. In Telophase II, the nuclear envelope forms around the two sets of chromosomes. The chromosomes then uncoil, the spindle fibers disassemble and the membrane pinches in separating the two cells. Finally, cytokinesis occurs and the cell membranes form dividing the cytoplasm. Meiosis results in the reassortment of genetic material from parent to daughter cell, while in mitosis identical cells are produced, also known as genetic recombination. One major reason behind the genetic variation between meiosis and mitosis i
Some common words found in the essay are:
, Telophase II, Meiosis Anaphase, Prophase II, Meiosis II, Meiosis Crossing, Meiosis Metaphase, Anaphase II, Mitosis Prophase, Metaphase II, nuclear envelope, meiosis ii, daughter cells, parent cell, step meiosis, cell division, mitosis meiosis, meiosis meiosis, opposite poles, cells produced, opposite poles cell, meiosis step meiosis,
Approximate Word count = 779
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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