during prophase one of meiosis, are there 46 homologus pairs per cell or 23?
During prophase I of meiosis, there are 23 homologous pairs per cell. Let me explain how to determine this.
Meiosis is a special type of cell division that occurs to produce gametes (sperm and eggs) with half the number of chromosomes as the parent cell. In humans, we have 46 chromosomes in total, organized into 23 pairs. This means that we have 23 pairs of homologous chromosomes.
During prophase I of meiosis, homologous chromosomes come together and align side by side in a process called synapsis. This results in a structure called a bivalent or tetrad, where each pair of homologous chromosomes is closely associated.
So, in each cell undergoing prophase I of meiosis, there are actually 23 bivalents (homologous pairs), which adds up to a total of 46 individual chromosomes. However, it is important to note that these chromosomes are not yet divided, and their number will be halved during meiosis II.