Question

Which is the better mode of reproduction sexual or asexual? Why?

Answer 1

Reproduction is a biological process by which new individuals are produced from their parents. Reproduction is essential for the continuation of life on this Earth.

Complete Answer:
Modes of reproduction:
There are two modes of reproduction:
A. Sexual reproduction
B. Asexual reproduction

A. Sexual reproduction: Sexual reproduction involves two parents of different sexes i.e. male and female. It is a process in which new organisms are formed by combining the genetic information from two individuals of different sexes i.e male and female.
- During sexual reproduction, the two gametes i.e. sperm and ova join together and fuse by a process called fertilization to form a diploid structure called Zygote.
- Organisms in which sexual reproduction take place include human beings, animals like dogs, buffalo etc.

B. Asexual reproduction: Asexual reproduction involve a single parent. It is a process in which a new organism is formed or produced from the body of a single parent.
- During asexual reproduction, the genetic information contained in the parent passed to the offspring as it.
- Asexually reproducing animals include unicellular organisms like Hydra, Amoeba, etc.

Which one is better – Sexual or Asexual mode of reproduction?
Sexual mode of reproduction is better than asexual mode of reproduction due to following reasons-
- Sexual reproduction promotes diversity of the characters in the offspring due to the combination of the genes from two different parents.
- Sexual reproduction leads to the variation whereas asexual reproduction do not.
- In asexual reproduction only one parent is involved, the offspring obtained from asexual reproduction is a clone to that of a parent while in sexual reproduction, two different parents are involved, and offsprings produced contain the characteristics of both of the parents.
- The offspring produced by the sexual reproduction are adaptive to different kinds of environments and are better developed at genetic level and also they tend to have higher immunity.
- Sexual reproduction leads to evolution due to the variations occurring.

Note: Apart from all the above discussed advantages, sexual reproduction also have some disadvantages like-
- Sexual reproduction is a very time consuming process.
- It is also the energy consuming process.
- It is not possible in sexual rewproduction for a single individual to reproduce.