Question

Distinguish between equational division and reduction division.

Answer 1

Living organisms can be either unicellular or multicellular. When a unicellular organism reproduces, it uses the process of mitosis, which is an equational division. That means that before the cell divides, it duplicates its DNA so that when it divides into two cells each has the same amount of genetic material as the original cell. For a multicellular organism to reproduce, however, specialized reproductive cells undergo a reduction division called meiosis. In order to sexually reproduce that is to combine genetic material from two different organisms, the organisms produce reproductive cells that have only half the amount of DNA so that when the two reproductive cells unite, the original number of chromosomes restored in the offspring.