AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Meiosis, from the Greek word meioun, meaning “to make small, ” refers to the specialized process by which germ cells divide to produce gametes. Because the chromosome number of a species remains the same from one generation to the next, the chromosome number of germ cells must be reduced by half during meiosis.

Detailed explanation-2: -Meiosis is a process where a single cell divides twice to produce four cells containing half the original amount of genetic information. These cells are our sex cells – sperm in males, eggs in females.

Detailed explanation-3: -Anaphase I of meiosis is characterized by separation of homologous chromosomes. This leads to reduction in chromosome number to half of that present in the mother cell.

Detailed explanation-4: -The number of chromosomes in human cells are 46. i.e, these are present in pairs of 23. These pairs break apart and get separated in meiosis I. Thus, each of the two daughter cells formed after first meiotic division have half the number of chromosomes, i.e., 23.

Detailed explanation-5: -In females, the process of meiosis is called oogenesis, since it produces oocytes and ultimately yields mature ova(eggs). The male counterpart is spermatogenesis, the production of sperm.