What is the outcome of meiosis?

• A. Two daughter cells with the same chromosome number as the parent
• B. Four haploid gametes with half the chromosome number
• C. One haploid cell, identical to parent
• D. Three haploid cells and one diploid cell

Answer: (B)

Meiosis halves the chromosome number to form gametes, and it does this through two rounds of division. In the first division, homologous chromosomes separate, reducing from diploid to haploid, and in the second division, sister chromatids separate, yielding four cells. Each of these four cells has a haploid set of chromosomes, half the original number. This setup also shuffles genetic material through crossing over and independent assortment, so the gametes are genetically diverse. Fertilization then restores the diploid chromosome number in the offspring.