Mitosis And Meiosis: Similarities And Differences

Cell division and reproduction is vital for life. Without cell division, all living organisms would be incapable of reproducing or healing themselves. There are mainly two different types of cellular division: mitosis and meiosis. These processes are crucial to most organisms, and have many different functions. Mitosis allow organisms to grow and to replenish cells. Meanwhile, meiosis creates cells that allow organisms to reproduce sexually. Both mitosis and meiosis have various functions and phases which have similarities and differences. Mitosis is the process by which cells reproduce and divide asexually. This process is used for repairing cells or growing. For example, a plant grows through this type of cell division, and when wounded,

To begin with, mitosis and meiosis both create new cells. Also, the parent cells in both of these processes are diploid. In most of their phases, the processes of mitosis and meiosis are almost identical. For example, in prophase, the nuclear membrane dissolves in both mitosis and meiosis. In metaphase, spindle fibers attach to the replicated chromosomes (or homologous chromosomes in meiosis I) and they are separated in anaphase. For mitosis and meiosis, telophase and cytokinesis are essentially identical, in which the nuclear membrane reforms and the cell splits. Although the processes are very similar, there are, however, some

During metaphase, the replicated chromosomes line up and attach to spindle fibers. However, in metaphase I in meiosis I, homologous pairs line up, form tetrads, and attach to spindle fibers, whereas in mitosis, the spindle fibers attach to replicated chromosomes. In addition, the process of mitosis only occurs once, but in meiosis there are two processes, meiosis I and meiosis II. The result of mitosis is two diploid daughter cells. However, the result of meiosis is 4 haploid daughter cells, since the processes in meiosis occurs twice. Meiosis I produces two haploid daughter cells. In meiosis II, these two cells divide to form four haploid daughter cells. Furthermore, the daughter cells in mitosis are identical to the daughter cells. However, in meiosis, the 4 daughter cells may have some genetic variation. This is due to meiosis starting with homologous pairs instead of replicated chromosomes. The functions of mitosis and meiosis are also different. Mitosis is used for repairing cells. For example, if an animal’s skin was scraped, mitosis would occur in the skin cells to allow them to replace the cells. Mitosis is also used when growing. When a plant grows, its cells are dividing by mitosis. On the contrary, meiosis produces cells for sexual reproductions. Meiosis produces gametes, such as sperms and eggs that are then used in sexual