A first view of the meiotic process.

In this introductory paper we have highlighted some aspects of the meiotic process which seem important to us and about which some especially interesting features have been discovered. These include the switch from mitosis to meiosis, premeiotic DNA synthesis, association of the chromosomes with the synaptonemal complex, the nature of chromosome homology in relation to chromosome pairing, the process of chromosome pairing, the regulation of meiosis as a developmental process and the process of recombination. We have indulged in speculation in the hope that it will stimulate additional discussion and research into these crucial meiotic cell divisions which link the generations in higher organisms.