Q1. Seedless watermelons are actually a product of “mistakes in meiosis” These seedless watermelon are triploid (3n) and are produced by crossing a tetraploid (4n) strain with a diploid (2n) plant. Briefly explain why this mating produces a triploid individual. Why can mitosis proceed normally in triploid cells, but meiosis cannot?

Q2. Describe what elements you would test for (and why) to determine whether a microscopic organism collected on a rock from another planet was recently alive or died many years ago.