One of your friends has several brothers and sisters, each quite different in appearance, interests, and abilities, even though all have the same parents. Explain in detail how these siblings reflect crossing over and independent assortment. Solution Meiosis process increases the genetic diversity in a species. In prophase I, crossing over takes place and in metaphase I and anaphase I, independent assortment occurs. When homologous chromosomes are paired together, during meiosis, the chromosomes make contact with the other pair of chromosomes. This point of contact is responsible for the exchange of genetic information between the chromosomes and is called the chiasmata. Although the same genetic information is contained by the two homologous chromosomes, the assortment of the chromosomes determine which information is present in each of the four gametes produced. For a particular phenotype, an allele can determine which characteristic will be expressed by the organism. For example, Chromosome 1 contains an allele for brown eyes while chromosome 2 contains an allele for black eyes. Thus, crossing over and independent assortment are responsible for different appearence, abilities and interest..

1. One of your friends has several brothers and sisters, each quite different in appearance, interests,
and abilities, even though all have the same parents. Explain in detail how these siblings reflect
crossing over and independent assortment.
Solution
Meiosis process increases the genetic diversity in a species. In prophase I, crossing over takes
place and in metaphase I and anaphase I, independent assortment occurs. When homologous
chromosomes are paired together, during meiosis, the chromosomes make contact with the other
pair of chromosomes. This point of contact is responsible for the exchange of genetic
information between the chromosomes and is called the chiasmata. Although the same genetic
information is contained by the two homologous chromosomes, the assortment of the
chromosomes determine which information is present in each of the four gametes produced. For
a particular phenotype, an allele can determine which characteristic will be expressed by the
organism. For example, Chromosome 1 contains an allele for brown eyes while chromosome 2
contains an allele for black eyes. Thus, crossing over and independent assortment are responsible
for different appearence, abilities and interest.