Question

Compare the pros and cons of asexual and sexual reproduction, and describe each mode of reproduction, giving specific examples based on living organisms. The details of description should be concise and informative and should be less than 500 words.

Answer 1

Asexual reproduction is in which an offspring comes from a single organism inheriting its parent's genes. The offspring would be an exact copy of the parent. There are some methods of asexual reproduction. They are binary fision which occures in amoeba , bacteria etc in which a single cell spilts into two; budding which is seen in hydra in which body part becomes a new organism; fragmentation which is seen in planaria in which parent cells breaks up and forms new individuals; spores which is seen in ferns which develop into new plants without fusing.; vegetative propogation in onions.

Sexual reproduction is the production of offsprings by combining genetic info from two individuals of two sexes. The fusion of gametes occures. There are two types; one is internal fertilization in which the male gamete is placed inside the female's body for fusing with female gamete. Like in humans, the sperm from the human male is injected in the uterus of the human female and fusion of gametes occures to form zygote which develops into a child.; the other is external fertilization in which male and female gametes fuse outside of the body like in seahorse.

Asexual reproduction is simple and require less energy compared to the complex sexual reproduction which requires a lot of energy. Asexual reproduction has better chance of survival compared to sexual reproduction due to large number of offsprings. In asexual reproduction finding a mate is easy unlike sexual reproduction which requires competition. Asexual reproduction doesn't need mobility.

On the other hand, asexual reproduction can hinder genetic diversity beacuse gene pool mixing doesn't happen. But in sexual reproduction, gene pool mixing happens and genetic diversity is produced. Asexual reproduction makes adaption more difficult, unlike sexual reproduction which makes it more easy. In asexual reproduction, the fact of offsprings being genetic clones make it susceptible to same diseases as parents. It also means that the genetic defects or mutations present in parent will be present in offspring unlike sexual reproduction. Also, unlike in sexual reproduction, asexual reproduction produces less variation. Asexually reproduced organism having same traits and weakneses makes it prone to extinction more than sexually reproduced offsprings.