How to Figure Out the Structures of Animal Cells

5 of 8 in Series: The Essentials of Biology Basics You have organs and are made up of cells. Your organ systems perform certain functions in you, the entire organism. Cells have organelles that perform certain functions in the cell. Although it takes millions and millions of cells to create you, each cell functions on its own and metabolizes individually.

Holding it all together: The plasma membrane

The fluid inside a cell (intracellular fluid) is called plasma or cytoplasm (cyto- means cell). The membrane holding the fluid in the cell is called a plasma membrane, also called the cell membrane. The cells themselves are floating in a type of fluid, called a matrix. The matrix is insoluble substances do not dissolve in its fluid. The matrix just supports the cells. The fluid that squeezes in between each and every cell is called extracellular fluid because it is outside of the cell. The job of the plasma membrane is to separate the chemical reactions occurring inside the cell from the chemicals that are floating in the extracellular fluid. If the plasma membrane didnt separate the inside and the outside of the cell, waste products excreted from the inside of the cell to the outside could flow back inside.

Structures in a typical animal cell.

Controlling the show: The nucleus

Every cell of every living thing has a nucleus, and every nucleus in every living thing contains genetic material. The genetic material directs the production of proteins that make the entire organism function; the nucleus makes the entire cell function. In the nucleus of cells that are not currently dividing, clumps of thread-like genetic material called chromatin appear. Right before a cell divides, the chromatin bunches up into chromosomes, which contain DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).

The DNA has two strands, each of which has sequences of nitrogenous bases that form the genetic code. The genetic code, which is derived from the nucleotide bases in the genes on strands of DNA, is interpreted, and then a ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) is produced from the DNA template. The mRNA uses the information from the genetic code for certain amino acids the building blocks of protein in the cell. The amino acids are then taken by transfer RNA (tRNA) to an organelle called a ribosome, where the final proteins are made. Proteins either contribute to the structure of the cell, or they contribute to the function of the cell, meaning that they are used as enzymes in metabolic processes. Either way, it is the genetic material housed in the nucleus that ultimately controls the structure and function of each and every cell. Each nucleus has a round mass inside it called a nucleolus. The nucleolus produces the third type of RNA molecule ribosomal RNA (rRNA). This type of RNA helps to make ribosomes, which get transferred from the nucleus to the cytoplasm to help in making proteins. Surrounding each nucleus is a double layer formed from proteins and lipids that separates the nucleus from the cytoplasm. This two-layered structure is called the nuclear envelope or nuclear membrane.

The factory of the cell: The endoplasmic reticulum

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a series of canals that connects the nucleus to the cytoplasm of the cell. The part of the ER that is dotted with ribosomes is called rough ER; the part of the ER that has no ribosomes is called smooth ER. Ribosomes on the rough ER serve as the place for the synthesis of proteins that are directed by the genes to be put together in the ER. (Other proteins are put together on ribosomes attached to other organelles or floating free in the cytoplasm.) The smooth ER contains transport vesicles that shuttle cellular products from cytoplasm to organelle, from organelle to organelle, or from organelle to plasma membrane. In addition to protein synthesis, the ER is involved in the metabolism of lipids (fats). The main function of ER is to make and transport proteins. The ER is essentially the womb for new protein chains. Protein synthesis, or production, begins in the nucleus, with the mRNA molecule carrying the genetic information as to what amino acids (proteins) should be produced. The tRNA molecules bring the amino acids from the cytoplasm to the ribosomes, which are produced by rRNA. At the ribosomes, the amino acids are joined together to form a protein, and the protein is stored in the ER until it can be moved to the Golgi apparatus.

Preparing for distribution: The Golgi apparatus

In biology, as well as other sciences, structures usually are named for the person who found them. In this case, the Italian scientist Camillo Golgi finds fame. The Golgi apparatus is very close to the ER; in the figure above, it looks like a maze with water droplets splashing off of it. The water droplets are transport vesicles bringing material from the ER to the Golgi apparatus. Inside the Golgi apparatus, products produced by the cell, such as hormones or enzymes, are packaged for export to other organelles or to the outside of the cell. The Golgi apparatus surrounds the product to be secreted with a sac called a vesicle. The vesicle finds its way to the plasma membrane, where certain proteins allow a channel to be produced so that the products inside the vesicle can be secreted to the outside of the cell. Once outside the cell, the products can enter the bloodstream and be transported through the body to where they are needed.

Lysosomes really clean up

Lysosomes are special vesicles formed by the Golgi apparatus to clean up the cell. They are the garbage men (or sanitation engineers) of the cell. Lysosomes contain digestive enzymes, which are used to break down products that may be harmful to the cell and spit them back out into the extracellular fluid. Lysosomes also remove dead organelles by surrounding the dead organelle, breaking down the proteins of the dead organelle, and releasing them to reconstruct a new organelle. Because the lysosome acts upon its own cell, the process is called autodigestion.

Peroxisomes break down hydrogen peroxide

Peroxisomes are little sacs of enzymes produced by smooth ER to help protect the cell from toxic products. You know how hydrogen peroxide is helpful when you use it to clean out a wound because it kills bacteria? Well, too much hydrogen peroxide inside you could kill you. Hydrogen peroxide is normally produced in some metabolic reactions, so it is inside you. However, hydrogen peroxide becomes harmful to the cells of the body if too much accumulates, so the key is to keep breaking it down to keep it from accumulating.

The powerhouses of the cell: The mitochondria

The ER supplies the products, the Golgi apparatus distributes the products, and the mitochondria supply the energy for all of those processes to take place. When you get a bill for electricity, the amount of electricity your household used in the past month is measured in kilowatt hours. Inside an organism, the amount of energy a cell uses is measured in molecules of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The mitochondria produce the ATP, and to do it, mitochondria use products of glucose metabolism as fuel.

Alleles: Alternative forms of a gene Autosomal chromosome: A nonsex chromosome Chromosome: A linear or circular strand composed of DNA that contains genes Diploid: An organism with two copies of each chromosome DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid; the molecule that carries genetic information Dominant: A phenotype or allele that completely masks the presence of the other, recessive allele in the heterozygote

Gene: The fundamental unit of heredity; a specific section of DNA within a chromosome Genotype: The genetic makeup of an individual; the allele(s) possessed at a given locus Heterozygote: An individual with two different alleles of a given gene or locus Homozygote: An individual with two identical alleles of a given gene or locus Locus: A specific location on a chromosome Phenotype: The physical characteristics of an individual Recessive: A phenotype or allele exhibited only when homozygous

The Structure of the Cell Nucleus and Its Chromosomes

If you could open the nucleus of a cell and peek inside, youd find chromosomes the strands of DNA where genes reside. This figure helps you see how all the parts of a chromosome relate to one another.

Mendels Laws of Inheritance

Genetic inheritance boils down to three simple concepts put forth by Gregor Mendel, a humble monk and part-time scientist who founded the entire discipline of genetics:

Segregation: In diploid organisms, chromosome pairs (and their alleles) are separated into individual gametes (eggs or sperm) to transmit genetic information to offspring.

Dominance: A dominant allele completely masks the effects of a recessive allele. A dominant allele produces the same phenotype in heterozygotes and in homozygotes.

Independent assortment: Alleles on different chromosomes are distributed randomly to individual gametes.

The Structure of DNA

DNA is made up of long chains of nucleotides. To make a complete DNA molecule, single nucleotides join to make chains that come together as matched pairs and form long double strands. Each nucleotide is comprised of the following:

A five-sided (pentose) sugar called deoxyribose A phosphate One of four nitrogen-rich bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, or thymine Nucleotides are joined together by phosphodiester bonds. Nucleotide chains are antiparallel and complementary.

Uncover Inheritance Based on Genotype and Phenotype Ratios

When solving genetics problems, it pays to know what patterns to look for. The parent genotypes and offspring phenotypic ratios in this table can help you figure out what kind of inheritance is at work.

Parent Genotypes Aa x Aa Aa x Aa AaBb x AaBb AaBb x AaBb AaBb x AaBb

Offspring Phenotypic Ratio 3 A_ : 1 aa 1 AA : 2 Aa : 1 aa 9 A_B_ : 3 A_bb : 3 aaB_ : 1 aabb 9 A_B_ : 3 A_bb : 4 aaB_ : aabb 12 A_B_ : A_bb : 3 aaBb : 1 aabb

Type of Inheritance Simple dominance, monohybrid cross Incomplete dominance Dihybrid cross Recessive epistasis Dominant epistasis

The main difference between embryonic and adult stem cells is their type of potency. Heres a breakdown of the differences:

Embryonic stem cells: Embryonic stem cells are derived from three- to five-day-old embryos that are created for fertilization treatments but arent going to be used to try to start a pregnancy; in other words, these blastocysts have never been implanted in a womans uterus and will be discarded if they arent used for research. IVF doctors culture a fertilized IVF embryo in a culture dish until it develops to the blastocyst stage. Researchers extract the inner cell mass, which is then used to derive embryonic stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they can give rise to any type of cell in the fully developed body. (Embryonic stem cells cant create the placenta or umbilical cord tissues, but they appear to be able to generate any other type of cell.)

Adult stem cells: So-called adult stem cells are really stem cells in specific tissues whose job seems to be replenishing their particular tissues or specific parts of their tissues as needed. Adult stem cells also renew themselves periodically to ensure that a pool of stem cells is always available to generate specific cell types. So far, scientists have verified stem cell caches in several tissues, including bone marrow, the brain, fatty tissue (called adipose tissue), the liver, the reproductive system (both male and female), skeletal muscles, skin, and teeth. Adult stem cells are generally multipotent, able to give rise to several kinds of cells in their home tissues. However, in their normal environments, adult stem cells dont seem to generate cell types outside their particular tissues. Liver stem cells, for example, dont generate heart cells, and brain stem cells dont generate kidney cells. Stem cell researchers have developed a technique for reprogramming adult cells in the lab to get them to act more like embryonic stem cells. These reprogrammed cells are called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), and they can be made from adult cells in the skin, fatty tissue, and other sources.

Four Groups of Macromolecules

Macromolecules are just that - large molecules. The four groups of macromolecules, shown in the table below, are essential to the structure and function of a cell. Group Carbohydrate Building Block Monosaccharide Large Molecule Polysaccharide Function Energy storage, receptors, structure of plant cell wall Enzymes, structure, receptors, transport, and more Information storage and transfer Membrane structure, energy storage, insulation To Identify, Look for . . . Made of C,H, and O; OH's on all carbons except one

Protein

Amino acid

Polypeptide or protein

Contain N, have N-C-C backbone

Nucleic acid

Nucleotide

Polynucleotide or nucleic acid

Contain N in rings, nucleotides made of sugar, phosphate and nitrogenous base Made of C,H, and O; lots of C-H bonds; may have some C=C bonds (unsaturated); steroids have 4 rings

Lipid *

Glycerol, fatty acids

Fats, oils, waxes, phosopholipids, steroids

Central Dogma of Molecular Biology

In molecular and cell biology, central dogma is the passage of information from DNA to RNA to protein. Here's a brief breakdown of central dogma's process: Process What Is Made? DNA What Is Template? DNA Important Molecules Starts At Ends When

Replication

DNA polymerase, primase, helicase, DNA ligase, topoisomerase RNA polymerase Ribosome, tRNA

Origin of replication (ORI) Promoter Start codon (AUG)

Replication forks meet

Transcription Translation

RNA Polypeptide (protein)

DNA mRNA

Termination sequence Stop codon (UAA, UGA, UAG)

Genetics: Welcome to Your Cell!

The study of genetics and the study of how cells work are closely related. The process of passing genetic material from one generation to the next depends completely on how cells grow and divide. To reproduce, a simple organism such as bacteria or yeast simply copies its DNA (through a process called replication) and splits in two. But organisms that reproduce sexually go through a complicated dance that includes mixing and matching strands of DNA (a process called recombination) and then reducing the amount of DNA in special sex cells to arrive at completely new genetic combinations for their offspring. These amazing processes are part of what makes you unique. So, come inside your cell you need to be familiar with the processes of mitosis (cell division) and meiosis (the production of sex cells) to appreciate how genetics works. There are two basic kinds of organisms:

Prokaryotes: Organisms whose cells lack a nucleus and therefore have DNA floating loosely in the liquid center of the cell Eukaryotes: Organisms that have a well-defined nucleus to house and protect the DNA

A nucleus is a compartment filled with DNA surrounded by a membrane called a nuclear envelope. The basic biologies of the two kinds of organisms are similar but not identical. Because all living things fall into these two groups, understanding the differences and similarities between cell types is important. In this article, you learn how to distinguish the two kinds of cells from each other, and you get a quick tour of the insides of cells both with and without nuclei.

Cells make up the smallest level of a living organism such as yourself and other living things. The cellular level of an organism is where the metabolic processes occur that keep the organism alive. That is why the cell is called the fundamental unit of life.

Defining cells of living creatures

What exactly are cells? Cells are sacs of fluid surrounded by membranes. Inside the fluid float chemicals and organelles. An organism contains parts that are smaller than a cell, but the cell is the smallest part of the organism that retains characteristics of the entire organism. For example, a cell can take in fuel, convert it to energy, and eliminate wastes, just like the organism as a whole can. But, the structures inside the cell cannot perform these functions on their own, so the cell is considered the lowest level.

Each cell is capable of converting fuel to useable energy. Therefore, cells not only make up living things; they are living things. Cells are found in all plants, animals, and bacteria. Many of the basic structures found inside all types of cells, as well as the way those structures work, fundamentally are very similar, so the cell is said to be the fundamental unit of life. The most important characteristic of a cell is that it can reproduce by dividing. If cells did not reproduce, you or any other living thing would not continue to live. Cell division is the process by which cells duplicate and replace themselves. If you did not replace your red blood cells, for example, you would have a life span only as long as that of red blood cells a mere 120 days. Increasingly more complex organisms are made up of increasingly more groups of cells (for example, in humans, groups of cells make up each organ and muscle tissue), and the organisms survive based on products that the cells make. For example, cells in the pancreas make insulin, which is necessary to ensure that the blood glucose level doesnt skyrocket. Without insulin, the blood glucose can reach a level that is lethal. So, without that cellular product, you would die.

Examining eukaryotes and prokaryotes

Cells fall into two major categories: eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Eukaryotes are organisms that contain chromosomes, including plants and animals, as well as fungi (like mushrooms), protozoa, and most algae. Eukaryotes have the following characteristics:

They have a nucleus that stores their genetic information. Animal cells have an organelle called a mitochondria that effectively combines oxygen and food to convert energy to a useable form. Plant cells have chloroplasts, which use energy from sunlight to create food for the plant. Eukaryotic cells have internal membranes, which create compartments inside the cells that have different functions. Plants cells have a cell membrane and a cell wall, which is rigid; animal cells have only a cell membrane, which is soft. The cytoskeleton, which reinforces the cytoplasm of the cell, controls cellular movements.

Prokaryotes are cellular organisms that do not have a true nucleus. A nucleus is the control center of a cell. A nucleus contains the genetic material packed into chromosomes, and it is associated with other organelles that function in the production of amino acids and proteins based on what the genetic material dictates. Prokaryotes have some genetic material, but it is not as well organized as it is in eukaryotes. Still, prokaryotes are able to reproduce. Examples of these organisms include bacteria and blue-green algae.

Cells without a nucleus

Organisms composed of cells without nuclei are classified as prokaryotes, which means "before nucleus." Prokaryotes are the most common forms of life on earth. You are, at this very moment, covered in and inhabited by millions of prokaryotic cells: bacteria. Much of your life and your body's processes depend on these arrangements; for example, the digestion going on in your intestines is partially powered by bacteria that break down the food you eat. Most of the bacteria in your body are completely harmless to you. Other species of bacteria, however, can be vicious and deadly, causing rapidly transmitted diseases such as cholera. All bacteria, regardless of temperament, are simple, one-celled prokaryotic organisms. None have cell nuclei, and all are small cells with relatively small amounts of DNA. The exterior of a prokaryotic cell is encapsulated by a cell wall that serves as the bacteria's only protection from the outside world. A plasma membrane (membranes are thin sheets or layers) regulates the exchange of nutrients, water, and gases that nourish the bacterial cell. DNA, usually in the form of a single hoop-shaped piece (segments of

DNA like this one are called chromosomes), floats around inside the cell. The liquid interior of the cell is called the cytoplasm. The cytoplasm provides a cushiony, watery home for the DNA and other cell machinery that carries out the business of living. Prokaryotes divide, and thus reproduce, by simple mitosis .

Cells with a nucleus

Organisms that have cells with nuclei are classified as eukaryotes (meaning "true nucleus"). Eukaryotes range in complexity from simple one-celled animals and plants all the way to complex multicellular organisms like you. Eukaryotic cells are fairly complicated and have numerous parts to keep track of. Like prokaryotes, eukaryotic cells are held together by a plasma membrane, and sometimes a cell wall surrounds the membrane (plants, for example have cell walls). But that's where the similarities end. The most important feature of the eukaryotic cell is the nucleus the membrane-surrounded compartment that houses the DNA that's divided into one or more chromosomes. The nucleus protects the DNA from damage during day-to-day living. Eukaryotic chromosomes are usually long, string-like segments of DNA instead of the hoop-shaped ones found in prokaryotes. Another hallmark of eukaryotes is the way the DNA is packaged: Eukaryotes usually have much larger amounts of DNA than prokaryotes, so to fit all that DNA into the tiny cell nucleus, it must be tightly wound around special proteins. Unlike prokaryotes, eukaryotes have all sorts of cell parts, called organelles, that help carry out the business of living. The organelles are found floating around in the watery cytoplasm outside the nucleus. Two of the most important organelles are the following:

Mitochondria: The powerhouses of the eukaryotic cell, mitochondria pump out energy by converting glucose to ATP (adenosine triphosphate). ATP acts like a battery of sorts, storing energy until it's needed for day-to-day living. Both animals and plants have mitochondria.

Chloroplasts: These organelles are unique to plants. They process the energy of sunlight into sugars that then are used by plant mitochondria to generate the energy that nourishes the living cells.

Eukaryotic cells are able to carry out behaviors that prokaryotes can't. For example, one-celled eukaryotes often have appendages, such as long tails (called flagella) or hair-like projections (called cilia) that work like hundreds of tiny paddles, to help them move around. Also, only eukaryotic cells are capable of ingesting fluids and particles for nutrition; prokaryotes must transport materials through their cell walls, a process that severely limits their culinary options. In most multicellular eukaryotes, cells come in two basic varieties: body cells (called somatic cells) or sex cells. The two cell types have very different functions and are produced in very different ways. Somatic cells Somatic cells are produced by simple cell division called mitosis. Somatic cells of multicellular organisms like you are differentiated into special cell types. Skin cells and muscle cells are both somatic cells, for instance, but if you were to examine your skin cells under a microscope and compare them with your muscle cells, you'd see their structures are very different. The various cells that make up your body all have the same basic components (membrane, organelles, and so on), but the arrangements of the elements change from one cell type to the next so that they can carry out various jobs such as digestion (intestinal cells), energy storage (fat cells), or oxygen transport to your tissues (blood cells). Sex cells Sex cells are specialized cells that are used for reproduction. Only eukaryotic organisms engage in sexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction combines genetic material from two organisms and requires special preparation in the form of a reduction in the amount of genetic material allocated to sex cells a process called meiosi. In humans, the two types of sex cells are eggs and sperm.

Important Parts of Eukaryotic Cells

All eukaryotic cells have organelles, a nucleus, and many internal membranes. These components divide the eukaryotic cell into sections, with each specializing in different functions. Each function is vital to the cell's life. The plasma membrane is made of phospholipids and protein and serves as the selective boundary of the cell. The nucleus is surrounded by a nuclear envelope with nuclear pores. The nucleus stores and protects the DNA of the cell. The endomembrane system consists of the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi apparatus, and vesicles. It makes lipids, membrane proteins, and exported proteins and then addresses them and ships them where they need to go. Mitochondria are surrounded by two membranes and have their own DNA and ribosomes. They transfer energy from food molecules to ATP. Chloroplasts are surrounded by two membranes, contain thylakoids, and have their own DNA and protein. They transform energy from the sun and CO2 from atmosphere into food molecules (sugars). The cytoskeleton is a network of proteins: actin microfilaments, microtubules, and intermediate filaments. Cytoskeletal proteins support the structure of the cell, help with cell division, and control cellular movements.

Genetics: Examining the Basics of Chromosomes Chromosomes are threadlike strands that are composed of DNA. To pass genetic traits from one generation to the next, the chromosomes must be copied, and then the copies must be divvied up. Most prokaryotes have only one circular chromosome that, when copied, is passed on to the daughter cells (new cells created by cell division) during mitosis. Eukaryotes have more complex problems to solve (like divvying up half of the chromosomes to make sex cells), and their chromosomes behave differently during mitosis and meiosis. Additionally, there are various terms to describe the anatomy, shapes, the number of copies, and situations that eukaryotic chromosomes find themselves in. This article gets into the intricacies of chromosomes in the eukaryotic cells, because they're so complex. Counting out chromosome numbers Each eukaryotic organism has a very specific number of chromosomes per cell ranging from one to many. For example, humans have 46 total chromosomes. These chromosomes come in two varieties: Sex chromosomes: These chromosomes determine gender. Human cells contain two sex chromosomes. If you're female, you have two X chromosomes, and if you're male, you have an X and a Y chromosome. Autosomal chromosomes: Autosomal simply refers to non-sex chromosomes. So, sticking with the human example, do the math, and you can see that humans have 44 autosomal chromosomes. Ah, but there's more. In humans, chromosomes come in pairs. That means you have 22 pairs of uniquely shaped autosomal chromosomes plus 1 pair of sex chromosomes, for a total of 23 chromosome pairs. Your autosomal chromosomes are identified by numbers 1 through 22. So, you have two chromosome 1s, two 2s, and so on. When chromosomes are divided into pairs, the individual chromosomes in each pair are considered homologous, meaning that the paired chromosomes are identical to one another in shape and size. For example, your two single chromosome 2s are paired up because they're identical in shape and size. These homologous chromosomes are sometimes referred to as homologs for short. Chromosome numbers can get a bit confusing. Humans are diploid, meaning we have two copies of each chromosome. Some organisms (like bees and wasps) have only one set of chromosomes (cells with one

set of chromosomes are referred to as haploid); others have three, four, or as many as sixteen copies of each chromosome! The number of chromosome sets held by a particular organism is called the ploidy. The total number of chromosomes doesn't tell you what the ploidy of an organism is. For that reason, the number of chromosomes an organism has is often listed as some multiple of n. Thus, humans are 2n = 46 (indicating that humans are diploid and the total number of chromosomes is 46). A single set of chromosomes referred to by the n is the haploid number. Human sex cells such as eggs or sperm are haploid. Examining chromosome anatomy Chromosomes are often depicted in stick-like forms. Chromosomes don't look like sticks, though. In fact, most of the time they're loose and string-like. Chromosomes only take on this distinctive shape and form when cell division is about to take place (during metaphase either through meiosis or mitosis). They're often drawn in this very distinctive shape and form because the special characteristics of eukaryotic chromosomes are easier to see. The part of the chromosome that appears pinched together (located in the middle of the chromosome) is called the centromere. The placement of the centromere (whether it's closer to the top, middle, or bottom of the chromosome) is what gives each chromosome its unique shape. The ends of the chromosomes are called telomeres. Telomeres are made of densely packed DNA and serve to protect the DNA message carried by the chromosome. The differences in shapes and sizes of chromosomes are easy to see, but the most important differences between chromosomes are hidden deep inside the DNA. Chromosomes carry genes. Genes are sections of DNA that make up the building plans for physical traits. The genes tell the body how, when, and where to make all the structures that are necessary for the processes of living. Each pair of homologous chromosomes carries the same but not necessarily identical genes. For example, both chromosomes of a particular homologous pair might contain the gene for hair color, but one can be a "brown hair" version of the gene alternative versions of genes are called alleles and the other can be a "blond hair" allele. Any given gene can have one or more alleles. The alleles code for the different physical traits (phenotypes) you see in animals and plants like hair color or flower shape. Each point along the chromosome is called a locus (Latin for "place"). The plural of locus is loci (pronounced low-sigh). Most of the phenotypes that you see are produced by multiple genes (that is, genes occurring at different loci and often on different chromosomes) acting together. For instance, human eye color is determined by at least three different genes that reside on two different chromosomes.

Cells do mitosis when they are going to make an exact copy of themselves for asexual reproduction, growth, or tissue repair. DNA replication occurs once, followed by a single division. The parent and daughter cells are both diploid, which means they have a double set of chromosomes.

Cells do meiosis in order to produce gametes (eggs and sperm) for sexual reproduction. DNA replication occurs once, followed by two divisions. The parent cell is diploid, but the daughter cells are haploid, which means they have half the number of chromosomes as their parent cells.