Meiosis in a diploid organism produces haploid gametes that are genetically unique.

• A. Four identical haploid gametes
• B. Four genetically unique haploid gametes
• C. Two haploid gametes
• D. One haploid gamete

Answer: (B)

Meiosis introduces genetic variation while halving the chromosome number, producing four haploid gametes from one diploid cell. During prophase I, crossing over creates new allele combinations, and during metaphase I and anaphase I, independent assortment shuffles which maternal or paternal chromosomes go into each gamete. This combination of recombination and random orientation ensures the four resulting haploid cells are genetically unique. That’s why four genetically unique haploid gametes is the best description. The other options would only fit if meiosis produced identical products or fewer cells, which doesn’t happen—meiosis yields four haploid products, not two or one, and recombination prevents them from being identical.