Processes that determine heredity and contribute to genetic variationmeiosis guarantees that in a sexual life cycle, offspring will inherit one complete set of chromosomes (and their associated genes and traits) from each parent. the transmission of traits from parents to offspring is called heredity. another important aspect of meiosis and the sexual life cycle is the role these processes play in contributing to genetic variation. although offspring often resemble their parents, they are genetically different from both of their parents and from one another. the degree of variation may be tremendous. the following processes are associated with meiosis and the sexual life cycle: a. dna replication before meiosis. b.crossing over. c.chromosome alignment in metaphase i and separation in anaphase i. d.chromosome alignment in metaphase ii and separation in anaphase ii. e.fertilization.