Daughter cells produced by mitosis are genetically identical to the parent cell. This statement describes which property?

• A. Genetically identical
• B. Genetically diverse
• C. Haploid
• D. Polyploid

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is that mitosis makes exact copies of the cell’s genetic material. During mitosis, the DNA is replicated and then evenly distributed to two new daughter cells, so each one ends up with the same chromosome set and the same genes as the parent cell. That’s why daughter cells produced by mitosis are genetically identical to the parent cell, assuming no new mutations occur.

This is different from other concepts: genetically diverse describes offspring with new combinations of genes, which happens mainly during meiosis and other genetic shuffling; haploid means having one set of chromosomes rather than the two sets typical of somatic cells after mitosis; polyploid means having more than two sets of chromosomes, which is not the usual result of standard mitosis in animals.