BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT) 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The process that leads to genetic diversity of gametes during meiosis is independent assortment. During meiosis, particularly in metaphase I, homologous chromosome pairs line up at the cell's equatorial plane. The way in which these pairs align is random, meaning that maternal and paternal chromosomes are distributed into gametes in a variety of combinations. This random distribution of chromosomes results in a significant number of possible combinations of alleles in the gametes.

While crossing over contributes to genetic diversity by exchanging genetic material between homologous chromosomes, which also occurs during meiosis, independent assortment is the primary process responsible for the varied combinations of chromosomes and hence genetic diversity in the resultant gametes.

Mutation refers to changes in the DNA sequence that can create new alleles but does not specifically occur during meiosis itself as a mechanism of gametic diversity. Gene flow involves the transfer of alleles or genes from one population to another, which affects genetic diversity at the population level rather than at the level of individual gametes during meiosis.