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Sexual Reproduction
- In sexual mode of reproduction, two parents of different sexes i.e. male and female give rise to a new individual.
- Sexual reproduction involves the fusion of male gamete/male sex cell and female gamete/female sex cel l in order to form a new cell called zygote .
- The process of fusion of male and female gamete is known as fertilization .
Sexual vs Asexual Reproduction- Which is better?
- In asexual reproduction, genetically identical offsprings (also called clones ) are produced and the only source of variation is any inaccuracy in copying DNA .
- Therefore, we can say that the organisms which reproduce asexually have very slight variations in their DNA.
- Since the environment is constantly changing, it is important for an organism to change accordingly in order to survive. So, these variations are extremely important.
- Also, if all the organisms of a given species are exactly identical, then their extinction to adverse conditions becomes higher.
- In case of sexual reproduction, the fusion of male and female gametes gives rise to the offspring which is similar but not completely identical to the parent.
- This is because the offspring gets DNA from both its parents , so the chances of variation are very high.
- Therefore the species are able to adapt to the changing environments faster.
- Hence, we can say that sexual reproduction provides genetic diversity which is important for survival.
