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Differences Between Mitosis And Meiosis

Mitosis occurs in all eukaryotic cell tissues and produces genetically identical daughter cells with a complete set of chromosomes. In humans, mitosis produces somatic cells that are diploid, which means they contain two non-identical copies of each of the twenty-three chromosomes. One copy is derived from the person's mother and the other from the person's father.

Meiosis, on the other hand, occurs only in testis and ovary tissues, producing sperm and ova (eggs). The gametes that are produced by meiosis in humans are haploid, containing only one copy of each of the twenty-three chromosomes. Because of recombination and independent assortment of parental chromosomes, the daughter cells produced by meiosis are not genetically identical.

In mitosis, one round of DNA replication occurs per cell division. In meiosis, one round of DNA replication occurs for every two cell divisions. Prophase in mitosis typically takes about thirty minutes in human cells. Prophase in meiosis I can take years to complete.

Silke Schmidt


Nasmyth, Kim. "Segregating Sister Genomes: The Molecular Biology of chromosome Separation." Science 297, no. 5581 (2002): 559.

Raven, Peter H., and George B. Johnson. Biology, 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill,1999.

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Medicine EncyclopediaGenetics in Medicine - Part 3Mitosis - Differences between Mitosis and Meiosis