what would happen if any of the cells in nature did undergo meiotic cell division?
Answers
ike mitosis, meiosis is a form of eukaryotic cell division. However, these two processes distribute genetic material among the resulting daughter cells in very different ways. Mitosis creates two identical daughter cells that each contain the same number of chromosomes as their parent cell. In contrast, meiosis gives rise to four unique daughter cells, each of which has half the number of chromosomes as the parent cell. Because meiosis creates cells that are destined to become gametes (or reproductive cells), this reduction in chromosome number is critical — without it, the union of two gametes during fertilization would result in offspring with twice the normal number of chromosomes!
Apart from this reduction in chromosome number, meiosis differs from mitosis in yet another way. Specifically, meiosis creates new combinations of genetic material in each of the four daughter cells. These new combinations result from the exchange of DNA between paired chromosomes. Such exchange means that the gametes produced through meiosis exhibit an amazing range of genetic variation.
Finally, unlike mitosis, meiosis involves two rounds of nuclear division, not just one. Despite this fact, many of the other events of meiosis are similar to those that occur in mitosis. For example, prior to undergoing meiosis, a cell goes through an interphase period in which it grows, replicates its chromosomes, and checks all of its systems to ensure that it is ready to divide. Like mitosis, meiosis also has distinct stages called prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. A key difference, however, is that during meiosis, each of these phases occurs twice — once during the first round of division, called meiosis I, and again during the second round of division, called meiosis II.