Biology › Section F · Meiosis and Mendelian heredity › Topic F.1
The process of meiosis
Mitosis copies; meiosis shuffles. Two divisions cut one diploid cell into four haploid gametes - and along the way chromosomes pair, trade segments, and line up in random order, so no two products are alike. This is where the variation natural selection feeds on gets made.
In this topic
- Why sex requires a halving
- Two divisions, one replication
- Prophase I: pairing and trading
- Variation source one: crossover
- Variation source two: independent assortment
- Anaphase I to telophase I
- Meiosis II: the mitosis-like split
- Meiosis versus mitosis
- Worked example: when separation fails
- Worked example: counting a cell's gametes
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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