MITOSIS, CYTOKINESIS, MEIOSIS AND APOPTOSIS Michelle Gehringer Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Port Elizabeth, South Africa Keywords: Cell cycle, checkpoints, growth factors, mitosis, meiosis, cyclin, cyclin dependent protein kinases, G1 phase, S phase, spindle, prophase, anaphase, metaphase,
Summary: At the end of meiosis, 4 daughter cells are formed = eggs or sperm. Each contains half as many chromosomes as the parent cell (n); each cell is genetically different from its parents and from its siblings. Fertilization of an egg by a sperm restores the chromosome number to 2n.
Meiosis is the process that forms gametes, or sex cells. Sex cells are what combine during fertilization to produce offspring. Meiosis occurs in the ovaries/testes. In humans, gametes are eggs and sperm. All of the cells in our body are diploid (2n). This means that each chromosome has a homologous pair.