Science Common Sense

1049 - What is the difference between mitosis and meiosis?

Imagine you have a box of LEGOs, and you want to make copies of it.

Mitosis is like making a copy of the box by using the exact same LEGOs you have. You'll end up with two boxes that are exactly the same as the original one. This is what happens in your body when cells grow, heal or replace old cells.

Meiosis is like taking the LEGOs apart and mixing them with LEGOs from another box, then making new boxes with a mix of the two. This creates new, unique boxes (or in this case, cells) with a mix of the traits from the two original boxes. This is what happens when your body makes cells that help you grow into an adult, such as sperm or egg cells.