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.
In a human life cycle, meiosis occurs to produce the gametes. In males, this is once puberty has started and occurs continuously. In females, meiosis begins while they are in the womb, but hormones produced during puberty allows the process to finish. This is the only time meiosis occurs in the human life cycle. To produce gametes. Mitosis on the other hand occurs once a zygote is produced (the result of fertilization) in order to produce an embryo, fetus, and so on.