Which cellular division process, mitosis or meiosis, are the daughter cells identical to EACH OTHER?

Question

I have a chart asking about the differences between mitosis and meiosis. In that chart, it's asking which process includes daughter cells that are identical to PARENT CELLS, and which process includes daughter cells that are identical to EACH OTHER?

Answer 1

Hi Rachel,

In mitosis, one parent cell splits into two identical daughter cells. The DNA is copied exactly (barring a very low background error rate) and is the same between the parent and both daughter cells.

In meiosis, the chromosomes are recombined in pairs (crossing over), and each daughter cell produced is different from another as well the parent cell. Because of this, the answer to both your questions is mitosis.

Let me know if you need any other help!

-Max