Genetic Variation: Crossing Over

Each parent cell has pairs of homologous  chromosomes. 

• One homologous chromosome is from the father and one from the mother. 
• In meiosis, the maternal and paternal chromosomes can be shuffled into the daughter cells in many different combinations. 
• This provides genetic variation in sexually reproducing organisms. 
• Genetic variation comes from crossing over, which may occur during prophase I of meiosis.
• In prophase I of meiosis, sister chromatids swap their version of the same genes, which increases genetic variation.
• After crossing over, the chromosomes are neither entirely maternal nor entirely paternal, but contain genes from both parents.

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