Question

At what phase of mitosis does the amount of genetic material in each chromosome become half of what it just was?

Answer 1

First, during the S phase of interphase, the genetic material of a cell is duplicated. A human has 46 chromosomes (a set of 23 you inherit from your mother, and a set of 23 from your father). After the genetic material is duplicated and condenses during prophase of mitosis, there are still only 46 chromosomes – however, they exist in a structure that looks like an X shape: