Meiosis happens in specialized reproductive cells called germ cells (or meiocytes), mainly in the sex organs (gonads) of organisms that reproduce sexually.

Quick Scoop: Where does meiosis happen?

  • In animals (including humans) , meiosis happens in the gonads :
    • In males: in the seminiferous tubules of the testes , during spermatogenesis to make sperm.
* In females: in the **ovaries** , in developing egg cells (oocytes) during oogenesis.
  • The cells that undergo meiosis are primordial germ cells / meiocytes , not regular body (somatic) cells.
  • In plants , meiosis happens in sporangia of the diploid sporophyte, producing spores (like pollen grains or megaspores) that later form gametes.
  • In general biology terms, the easiest way to remember it:
    • Meiosis happens where gametes (sex cells) start their life : in germ-line tissues , not everywhere in the body.

Mini story to lock it in

Imagine your body as a big city.
Most buildings (somatic cells) just copy themselves with normal construction rules (mitosis).
But in a special “secret district” — the testes or ovaries in animals, and spore-forming tissues in plants — there’s a special factory (germ cells) that follows a different blueprint: meiosis , which halves the chromosome number so future offspring start with the right set.

TL;DR: Meiosis happens only in germ cells located in gonads (testes and ovaries) of animals and in spore-producing tissues of plants , not in ordinary body cells.

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