Mitosis and meiosis are both important processes in living things, but they do different jobs. Let's break it down.
Mitosis:
- What It Does: Helps with growth, repair, and making new cells without a partner (asexual reproduction).
- What It Makes: Creates two daughter cells that are exactly like the original cell. They have the same number of chromosomes (46 for humans).
- How It Works: There’s one round of division. The steps are called prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.
- Chromosome Count: Human cells stay with 46 chromosomes (2n).
Meiosis:
- What It Does: Helps with sexual reproduction by making gametes, which are sperm and egg cells.
- What It Makes: Creates four daughter cells that are different from each other. Each one has half the number of chromosomes (23 for humans).
- How It Works: There are two rounds of division. The steps are similar to mitosis and are called meiosis I and meiosis II.
- Chromosome Count: In humans, it reduces the number to 23 (n).
Why It Matters in Genetics:
- Mitosis keeps the genetic information the same, while meiosis mixes things up, which is important for evolution and helping species adapt to changes.
Knowing these differences helps us understand how living things grow and reproduce!