Organisms grow and reproduce as a result of cell division. Eukaryotic cells are cells that have a nucleus enclosed within the nuclear envelope. The production of new cells in eukaryotic cells happens because of mitosis and meiosis (MacGregor, Adams, & Gilbert, 2019). The two processes involved the division of a cell that has two sets of chromosomes. Mitosis and meiosis differ in the type of cells that are divided and in the number of divisions that occur when new cells are being formed.
Mitosis involves the division of body cells through an ordered series of events. The mitotic cell cycle is triggered by the presence of factors that encourage the production of new cells. Mitosis is useful because it helps in the replacement of dead cells, damaged cells, and those with short life spans (MacGregor et al., 2019). On the other hand, meiosis is the division of sex cells or gametes. These cells are generated for the organisms that reproduce sexually. The new cells are genetically different, which is different from the mitosis process, where the formed cells are genetically identical. During mitosis, the daughter cells formed after the division are known as diploids, while in meiosis, they are referred to as haploids.
During mitosis, the division of cells occurs once, while in meiosis, the division of cells occurs twice. In mitosis, the detachment causes the production of two daughter cells, although, in meiosis, the division causes the production of four daughter cells (MacGregor et al., 2019). For mitosis, in the daughter cells, there is the same number of chromosomes, whereas, for meiosis, the daughter cells only have one-half the number of chromosomes in the original cells. Therefore, meiosis is responsible for the introduction of new gene combinations through genetic recombination.
Reference
MacGregor, I. A., Adams, I. R., & Gilbert, N. (2019). Large-scale chromatin organization in interphase, mitosis, and meiosis. Biochemical Journal, 476(15), 2141-2156. Web.