Meiosis is a specialized type of cell division that reduces the chromosome number by half, creating four haploid cells, each genetically distinct from the parent cell that gave rise to them.This process occurs in all sexually reproducing single-celled and multicellular eukaryotes, including animals, plants, and fungi. Errors in meiosis resulting in aneuploidy are the leading known cause of miscarriage and the most frequent genetic cause of developmental disabilitiesdiploid two copies of each type of chromosome (2N)
zygote
cell produced by fusion of a male gamete and female gamete (sperm and egg cells)
haploid
individual with one copy of each chromosome. also what the gametes are like when a diploid nucleus undergoes meiosis. (N)
genome
complete set of genetic information in the haploid set of chromosomes
homologous chromosomes
chromosomes that have the same arrangement of genetic loci, identical in visible structure and pair during meiosis, each member is called a homolog.
