What is one key difference between mitosis and meiosis?

The production of four cells in meiosis, compared to the two cells produced in mitosis, highlights a fundamental difference between these two processes of cell division. Mitosis is designed for growth, tissue repair, and asexual reproduction, resulting in two genetically identical diploid daughter cells. In contrast, meiosis is a specialized form of cell division that occurs exclusively for the production of gametes—sperm and eggs—in sexually reproducing organisms.

During meiosis, a single diploid cell undergoes two rounds of division (meiosis I and meiosis II), ultimately creating four haploid cells. This reduction in chromosome number is crucial for maintaining the species' chromosome count during fertilization, when two haploid gametes combine to form a diploid zygote. The distinction in the number of cells produced (two in mitosis, four in meiosis) is key to understanding the roles each type of division plays in an organism's life cycle.