Which of the following processes occurs during meiosis that increases genetic variation?

The process that significantly increases genetic variation during meiosis is crossover, which occurs during prophase I. Crossover involves the exchange of genetic material between homologous chromosomes. When homologous chromosomes pair up, they can exchange segments of their chromatids, resulting in new combinations of alleles. This genetic recombination creates gametes that are genetically distinct from one another, which enhances the genetic diversity of the offspring produced during sexual reproduction.

Chromosome duplication, replication, and cytokinesis are important processes that occur in the cell cycle, but they do not contribute to increasing genetic variation in the same way that crossover does. Chromosome duplication and replication are essential for ensuring that each new cell receives a complete set of chromosomes, but they do not alter the genetic information itself. Cytokinesis is the process that divides the cytoplasm of a parental cell into two daughter cells at the end of cell division and does not influence genetic diversity directly. Thus, crossover stands out as the key process responsible for increasing genetic variability during meiosis.