Meiosis

Patent Pending Meiosis Listeni/maɪˈoʊsɨs/ is a special type of cell division necessary for sexual reproduction in eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. The number of sets of chromosomes in the cell undergoing meiosis is reduced to half the original number, typically from two sets (diploid) to one set (haploid). The cells produced by meiosis are either gametes (the usual case in animals) or otherwise usually spores from which gametes are ultimately produced (the case in land plants). In many organisms, including all animals and land plants (but not some other groups such as fungi), gametes are called sperm in males and egg cells or ova in females. Since meiosis has halved the number of sets of chromosomes, when two gametes fuse during fertilisation, the number of sets of chromosomes in the resulting zygote is restored to the original number.