general meiosis question

[Fiiiiish]

Meiosis is the process whereby germ line cells divide into haploid cells (gametes such as eggs and sperm)
So does that mean meiosis isn't the process where a male and female exchange genetic material to produce offspring?

I am.. confusing myself.

[Tyleralp1]

I'm pretty sure meiosis is simply the production of gametes (half the original number of chromosomes).

Sexual reproduction/intercourse and the various process involved in the formation of a zygote is when genetic material is exchanged.

[Yacoubb]

Meiosis is the process whereby germ line cells divide into haploid cells (gametes such as eggs and sperm)
So does that mean meiosis isn't the process where a male and female exchange genetic material to produce offspring?

I am.. confusing myself.

Meiosis is the process by which gametes are formed. So, gametes are formed in males and females irrespective of whether or not they sexually reproduce.

Sexual reproduction involves the fusion of a sperm cell (produced by meiosis in males) and an ovum (produced by a female during meiosis) to produce a diploid (2n) zygote.

Hope this clarified things

[Fiiiiish]

ahh thanks guys! 

Do any of you know how to draw up a linked gene dihybrid cross? I don't understand the whole recombination and crossing of it. 

[Yacoubb]

ahh thanks guys! 

Do any of you know how to draw up a linked gene dihybrid cross? I don't understand the whole recombination and crossing of it. 

The notation for unlinked genes would be AaBb
The notation for linked genes would be AB/ab.

For a cross between AB/ab   x    AB/ab

          AB.          ab
AB.    AB/AB.     AB/ab

ab.    AB/ab.       ab/ab


Hope this helps. Just remember that linked genes reduce genetic variability. This is because there is no recombination of genetic material and so at that particular gene locus (i.e. The linked loci) are assorted together into gametes during meiosis.

[Fiiiiish]

Thanks so much, at least I understand the crossing now. How can we tell if there's been recombination though?
This may be random... but does mitosis occur in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes?

A VCAA half life related question:
A fossil kangaroo skull was found in a limestone cave. The ratio of C14-C12 was found to contain 1/4 of the C14 of a kangaroo that died in 2012. Given the half life of carbon is approx 6000 years, what is the approx age, in years, of the kangaroo skull?

I'm not the best at math... how would you calculate it? 

[SocialRhubarb]

In reality, I don't think you can since nuclear testing has screwed up the C14-C12 ratio in the atmosphere. QI told me so.

Nevertheless, assuming that we can use carbon dating, it will be two half-lives old, as it has decayed through one half life to one half of the original amount, and then decayed once more to half of half, which is one quarter. The question tells us the half-life of carbon is about 6000 years, so the kangaroo skull should be around two half lives old, which is 12000 years.

[Irving4Prez]

Thanks so much, at least I understand the crossing now. How can we tell if there's been recombination though?
This may be random... but does mitosis occur in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes?

Prokaryotes such as bacteria don't undergo mitosis but they asexually reproduce via binary fission.

[Yacoubb]

Thanks so much, at least I understand the crossing now. How can we tell if there's been recombination though?
This may be random... but does mitosis occur in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes?

A VCAA half life related question:
A fossil kangaroo skull was found in a limestone cave. The ratio of C14-C12 was found to contain 1/4 of the C14 of a kangaroo that died in 2012. Given the half life of carbon is approx 6000 years, what is the approx age, in years, of the kangaroo skull?

I'm not the best at math... how would you calculate it? 

Mitosis takes place place in eukaryotic cells; binary fission (a mode of asexual reproduction) takes place in prokaryotic cells.