Answers and explanation:
Most of the cells in the human body are somatic cells and have 23 pairs of chromosomes (46 chromosomes in total) and are thus called 'diploid cells'. The only cells that have 23 single chromosomes are the gametes, which are haploid cells - the reason behind this is that gametes in females (ovum) need to be fertilized by the gametes present in males (sperm) to form a new being: the zygote.
Mitosis and meiosis are both processes in which the cells are divided, but they are quite different. In Mitosis, the somatic cells divide themselves to generate two daughter cells that are equal to the cell that has divided. In Meiosis, the diploid cells that generate the gametes, divide into four daughter cells, which will all have half of the chromosomes (the four of them will be haploid cells with 23 chromosomes each).
1. How many daughter cells are made during mitosis? 2.
During meiosis? 4.
2. In humans how many chromosomes will be in a daughter cell after mitosis? 46. After meiosis? 23.
3. What happens during interphase before both mitosis and meiosis can begin?
Interphase is the name given to the part of the cell cycle in which the cells are not dividing themselves. In this phase, cells spend most of their lives, and they use it to do things such as obtaining nutrients and metabolizing them so they can make use of them to carry on with their specific tasks, which vary depending on the type of the cell. In a very specific part of Interphase called the S phase, the cell duplicates its DNA - this leads to the cell having 2 copies of the same information, which will be important when cell division comes (in Mitosis, each daughter cell will get one complete copy; in Meiosis, each daughter cell will have half of a copy).