Meiosis produces four daughter cells from one parent cell. This occurs because meiosis involves two rounds of cell division following a single round of DNA replication.

• In the first division (meiosis I), homologous chromosomes are separated, resulting in two haploid cells, each with half the number of chromosomes but still consisting of sister chromatids.
• In the second division (meiosis II), sister chromatids are separated, producing four haploid daughter cells, each with one copy of each chromosome.

Thus, the end result of meiosis is four genetically distinct haploid daughter cells, each containing half the chromosome number of the original diploid parent cell