Biology help please:)?

[mulan]

Mitosis and meiosis are two different ways cell divide. They both share common characteristics and processes, but different in some very important ways. Please answer the following questions in descriptive and easy to understand paragraphs, please and thank you,

Questions:
1. What are the end products of the two processes? How do they differ from the original or 'parent' cell, if at all?

2. Explain the major difference between the two processes that results in the different end products. In which process does chromosomal exchange occur?

3. Why is it important for this exchange to occur during this particular process and not the other process?

Please answer, thank you!

 

[Chidori]

1. Mitosis= One cell identical to the parent cell
Meiosis= Four haploid cells, each have half the number of chromosomes as the parent cell.
2. Mitosis has only one stage, and no crossing over of the chromosomes, thus the resulting cell is an exact copy of the parent. In meiosis, crossing over occurs in tetrads (i think) which are present during prophase 1. Meiosis divides the cell twice and crossing over occurs.
3. Chromosomal exchange(crossing over) occurs in meiosis to produce genetic variety, and is important because meiosis is involved in reproduction, which required both the chromosomes from the mother and father to be exchanged so that it can determine what traits the baby will have. For example, if a mother is dominant in one trait and the father is recessive, then during cross-over, the child will get the dominant trait (unless mother is heterozygous dominant), and so the child will not be an exact copy of either parent.

Hope I was able to answer most of your questions.