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Why is the process of meiosis important in making gametes? A - OCR Gateway - GCSE Biology - Question 10 - 2018 - Paper 4
Question 10
Why is the process of meiosis important in making gametes? A. The cells produced are diploid. B. The cells produced are genetically identical. C. The cells produced ... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Why is the process of meiosis important in making gametes? A - OCR Gateway - GCSE Biology - Question 10 - 2018 - Paper 4
Step 1
D. The cells produced have half the number of chromosomes.
Answer
Meiosis is crucial in the formation of gametes (sperms and eggs) as it reduces the chromosome number by half, producing haploid cells. This reduction is necessary because during fertilization, the diploid state is restored when two haploid gametes fuse. Without this halving process, the resulting organism would have an unsuitable number of chromosomes, leading to genetic abnormalities. Therefore, option D is the correct reason for the significance of meiosis in gamete formation.