Give reason:

(a) Gametes must be produced by meiosis for sexual reproduction.

(b) Why is meiosis referred to as 'reductional division'?

(c) The children of the same parents, howsoever similar, are different from each other in certain aspects.

(a) Gametes must be produced by meiosis for sexual reproduction because the numbers of chromosomes are reduced to half during meiosis and then the normal diploid numbers of chromosomes are regained during the process of fertilization.

(b) Meiosis is referred to as 'reductional division' because the number of chromosomes are reduced to half i.e. out of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans, only single set of chromosomes are passed on to the sex cells. This is essential because when the male and female gametes fuse during fertilization, the normal double (diploid) number of chromosomes is reacquired. The diploid number, as a rule, is expressed as “2n” and the haploid number as "n".

(c) The mixing up or recombination of genes during meiotic division provides for the innumerable variations and diversity in the progeny. That is how, the children of the same parents, howsoever similar, are different from each other in certain aspects.