Genetic variation is increased by meiosis. During fertilisation, 1 gamete from each parent combines to form a zygote. Because of recombination and independent assortment in meiosis, each gamete contains a different set of DNA. This produces a unique combination of genes in the resulting zygote. read more
This means that it is equally likely for a given chromosome to be distributed to either of the two daughter cells. By shuffling the genetic deck in this way, the gametes resulting from meiosis II have new combinations of maternal and paternal chromosomes, increasing genetic diversity. read more
Meiosis is the process of producing gametes, which are sperm cells and egg cells. Gametes have only half the number of chromosomes that normal cells have, because a sperm and an egg fuse to form a cell that has the full number of chromosomes. Genetic diversity arises due to the shuffling of chromosomes during meiosis. read more
Genetic diversity is increased in meiosis two ways: chromosomal crossover leading to genetic recombination during synapsis in prophase I, and, independent assortment in the segregation of homologous pairs of chromosomes in anaphase I, due to the random orientation of tetrads in metaphase I. read more