Cells and Molecules - Brutes or Angels: Human Possibility in the Age of Biotechnology - page 22

fig. 1.10. Comparison of mitosis and meiosis. Both mitosis and meiosis begin with
a diploid cell undergoing chromosome (DnA) replication. in mitosis ( left ), the two
chromatids of each replicated chromosome separate during cell division so that each
daughter cell has a diploid complement of chromosomes like the original parent cell.
in meiosis ( right ), replicated chromosomes exchange genetic material during genetic
recombination. During the first meiotic division (m1), chromatids remain unseparated
and one version of each replicated chromosome goes to each daughter cell. During
the second meiotic division (m2), chromatids separate and cell divisions produce four
haploid germ cells, either four small, functional sperm cells or one large, functional egg
and three polar bodies that eventually degenerate.