Thread: Biology questions, involving meiosis and sexual reproduction?

-What kind of cell is a gamete?
-What is the advantage of sexual reproduction?
-What are chromosomes made of and how many are there in a human somatic cell in total?
-What combination of sex chromosomes results in a boy? In a girl?
-How many cells are present at the end of meiosis I? at the end of meiosis II?
-What is independent assortment?
-When a sperm & egg fuse to make a zygote, how many copies of each chromosome and each gene will be found in the zygote? Why?
-Why is meiosis necessary for sexual production?

Thanks in advance .

1. Sex cell
2, Two sets of chromosomes so lethal allele's may not produce undesirable effect.
3. DNA and Chromatin. 46 total(23 pairs).
4. XY XX
5. 2 and 4
6.
7. 2 each parent donates 1 chromosome/gene
8. to produce a cell that contains only one copy of each chromosome

gamete-sexual organ or germ cell
more variability (crossing over)
23 pairs of chrosmosomes plus sex chromosomes
XX male, XY female
2 cells miosis i, 4 cells meiosis ii
the random assortment of chromosomes during the production of gametes, the results are genetically unique individual gametes
46 chromosomes in a zygote 23 from sperm, 23 from egg
meiosis enables all organisms that reproduce sexually to do so without continually multiplying the amount of DNA in the nucleus