How does meiosis create genetic diversity?

Answer 1

Disregarding coding errors and mutations etc.

You start with 46 chromosomes - half go to each gamete. Each one has a choice. So you have 2 to the 23 power possibilities.

that is more than 8,000,000 ... all different.

Answer 2

Basically, the chromosomes divide in half and take on a lot better chance of something different or as you said, 'variety'. So it's just like dividing 10 into two 5s. Like look at this equation.

10 (divided) by half.

Then you have 5 and 5.

I'm sure that you know that 10 is just ONE!

And two 5s mean you have TWO!

So which one is the bigger number of winning.

2 or 1.

2.

Really, it's just the same quality,

but it's different quantity.

One big cookie,

Or 10 small ones?

~Mega³ :]

Answer 3

In the DNA, chromosomes come in pairs. In the daughter cells of meiosis, each cell only gets half from each pair. Not only will every daughter cell have a different combination of half, but the chromosomes also swap segments before splitting apart, allowing even more diversity.

Answer 4

In any organism, traits are determined by pairs of alleles, or forms of a gene, for the same trait. There are dominant alleles and recessive alleles. The expression of a gene depends on the combination of alleles present.

For example, one's father may have brown eyes and mom may have blue eyes. Let's say B is brown, and b is blue. Because blue is recessive to brown, we know mom's genotype:

bb (that is, she has two copies of the recessive allele, so she has to have blue eyes).

Dad is a different story. B (brown) is dominant over b (blue), so Dad could have 1 of 2 different genotypes for eye color:

BB (two dominant alleles) or Bb (one dominant, one recessive).

Here's where the diversity question is answered. Say BOTH your parents have brown eyes, but they are both heterozygous for eye color (that is, they have one dominant and one recessive allele). You can't tell by looking at their eyes, but you can tell by the eye color of their children. We get one copy of the gene for eye color from each parent because meiosis splits our chromosomes so that, instead of two copies of a particular gene in the sperm and egg cells, there is now only one-- and the combination of copies from our two parents determines our eye color:

B from dad, B from mom ---- brown eyes

B from dad, b from mom ---- brown eyes

b from dad, B from mom ---- brown eyes

b from dad, b from mom ---- BLUE eyes!

On another note, eye color is not as simple as this, because there are shades between blue and brown that are GENETICALLY brown (such as hazel), but are modified by other genes besides the one we're talking about.

Have fun!

Answer 5

Gametes are sex cells produced at the end of Meiosis 2. It starts by splitting into 4 haploid cells, which creates a gamete.

Answer 6

They have sex and create different types of babies

Answer 7

Meiosis produces gametes which then go on to participate in sexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction combines the genetic material of the two parents - therefore creating variation.