Question

write advantages of sexual reproduction

Answer 1

1. It paves the way to unique individuals.
In asexual organisms, their cells go through a process called mitosis. This means that every chromosome is copied before the nucleus divides and that every resulting chromosome receives the exact same copy of genetic information. As a result, children are very similar to their parents since they’re essentially carbon copies of them.

This isn’t the case in sexually reproducing organisms, whose cells go through a process called meiosis. In this process, the 46 chromosomes of the nucleus are divided among two reproductive cells called gametes (sperm cells for males and egg cells for females). Each gamete contains 23 chromosomes — half the number of the chromosomes that their parent cell had. When fertilization happens, sperm cells and egg cells join to form a zygote that contains exactly 46 chromosomes.

Unlike asexually reproduced offspring, this zygote receives traits from each parent but isn’t a replica of either of them. Rather, it’s a unique individual that will eventually contribute a different set of genes to the gene pool. Because of this, offspring reproduced sexually are completely different from each other (with the exception of identical twins, which come from the same egg).

2. It promotes survival.
As mentioned above, organisms that reproduce asexually have genetically identical offspring. This can be the downfall of their species because, if one of them develops a certain type of illness, the disease can easily spread to the rest of the population and affect them all in the same way. As a result, their entire species can be wiped out, rendering them extinct.

This is fortunately not the case with sexually reproducing organisms. Since every individual is genetically different, there’s a high chance that some members of the species won’t be affected by diseases that destroy others. These individuals can go on to survive and reproduce, ensuring their species won’t go extinct.

3. It removes bad genes from the population.
Mitosis, as mentioned, copies the genetic code of the nucleus during reproduction. This means that asexual organisms pass on the same types of chromosomes to all their offspring, whether these chromosomes bring about good or bad traits. In meiosis, however, there’s always the chance that these chromosomes won’t be passed down to the offspring. Even if they would, natural selection can still prevent them from being passed down to the next generation, ensuring that the species can eventually be free of these unfavorable genes.