How do mitosis and meiosis differ in the division of genetic material?

Mitosis and meiosis are two different types of cell division processes that occur in eukaryotic cells, and they differ significantly in how they divide genetic material:

Mitosis:

• Purpose: Mitosis is a type of cell division that occurs in somatic (body) cells for growth, repair, and asexual reproduction. It results in the production of two genetically identical daughter cells, each having the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell.
• Stages: Mitosis consists of one round of division, which is divided into stages: prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.
• Genetic Material Division: During mitosis, one round of DNA replication occurs before division, resulting in duplicated chromosomes consisting of two sister chromatids. The genetic material is equally distributed to the daughter cells, ensuring that each daughter cell receives a complete set of chromosomes identical to the parent cell.
• End Result: The end result of mitosis is the formation of two diploid daughter cells, each having the same number of chromosomes (n) as the original parent cell.

Meiosis:

• Purpose: Meiosis is a specialized type of cell division that occurs in reproductive cells (germ cells) and is involved in the formation of gametes (sperm and egg cells). Its primary purpose is to create genetically diverse daughter cells.
• Stages: Meiosis consists of two rounds of division: meiosis I and meiosis II, each with prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase stages.
• Genetic Material Division: Meiosis involves one round of DNA replication followed by two consecutive divisions. In meiosis I, homologous chromosomes pair and exchange genetic material through crossing over (recombination). During anaphase I, homologous chromosomes separate, leading to the reduction of the chromosome number by half. In meiosis II, similar to mitosis, sister chromatids separate, resulting in the formation of four haploid daughter cells, each with a unique combination of genetic material due to recombination.
• End Result: The end result of meiosis is the production of four genetically diverse haploid daughter cells, each containing half the number of chromosomes (n) as the original parent cell.