What is reproduction? What are male and female reproductive organs? Explain in brief.
Explanation Of Reproduction
Reproduction is a process through which organisms give rise to their young ones, which are the same as their single parent or have mixed characteristics of their parents. Reproduction helps to maintain the continuity of a particular species.
There are two ways in which organisms can reproduce:-
1. Asexual reproduction- This is the process by which offspring are produced without the fusion or production of gametes. Asexual reproduction takes place when there is only one parent. The offspring are identical to their parent and are called clones. Asexual reproduction is a simple and fast process.
E.g., spore formation, parthenogenesis, vegetative propagation, fragmentation, etc.
2. Sexual reproduction- This is the process by which the male gamete, which is the sperm, and the female gamete, which is the ovum, fuse to produce the offspring. The offspring contain characteristics of both the parents, and hence are not the same as their parents. Sexual reproduction is a complex and slow process. Through sexual reproduction, there is genetic variation in the offspring.
A disease cannot affect the whole species.
E.g.- in human beings, dogs, etc.
The organisms that can produce 2 distinct types of gametes are called anisogametes, which contain the male gamete sperm and female gamete ovum. E.g., plasmodium, vertebrates.
The organisms in which the gametes are identical are called isogamous species. E.g., chlamydomonas, algae, etc
There are many organisms that can reproduce sexually as well as asexually, like hydra, jellyfish, yeast, and many more, depending on the conditions they are in.
In humans, there are germ cells called sperm and ova, respectively, for male and female. During intercourse, the sperm reaches the ovum and fertilises it to form the embryo, which later forms a zygote. As time passes, the zygote grows to form an individual baby.
There are lab-based methods for couples who are not able to conceive naturally. Ex- IVF.
– Written By Kumari
