The process you are describing is called meiosis. It is a special type of cell division where a single parent cell divides twice to produce four daughter cells, each with half the number of chromosomes of the original parent cell. These daughter cells are haploid and are also known as sex cells or gametes (sperm and egg cells)

. Key points about meiosis:

• The parent cell is diploid, meaning it has two copies of each chromosome.
• Before meiosis begins, the DNA is replicated once.
• Meiosis consists of two successive divisions: Meiosis I and Meiosis II.
• Meiosis I separates homologous chromosomes, reducing the chromosome number by half.
• Meiosis II separates sister chromatids, similar to mitosis.
• The end result is four haploid cells, each with one set of chromosomes, which are genetically distinct due to recombination and crossing over during meiosis I

This reduction in chromosome number is essential for sexual reproduction, as it ensures that when two gametes fuse during fertilization, the resulting offspring has the correct diploid chromosome number