Friday, August 12, 2011

Help with the end products of meiosis?

The first division in meiosis is a reduction division - reducing the number of chromosomes to 1/2 the normal number (haploid) and creating two non-identical cells. The second division is similar to mitosis - in this stage the chromosomes are replicated then the sister chromatids are pulled apart to opposite sides of the cell, the cell wall then pinches off at the middle creating two identical sperm (actually 4, since both of the two non-identical cells formed after the first division undergo a second division). When a sperm fertilizes an ovum the number of chromosomes become diploid (normal number) with the sperm contributing half the chromosomes and the ovum the other half.

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