Which type of reproduction-sexual or asexual-results in offspring with greater genetic variation

Answer 1

Sexual reproduction results in more genetic variation.

That's because half of the DNA of the female and half of the DNA of the male combine together to create a totally new, genetically unique organism. So offspring is not genetically identical to parent. During the process of creating gametes and fertilizing egg in sexual organisms, there is a certain randomization to the process that results in further variation -- recombination, random fertilization, random mating.

Take, for example, the asexual reproduction strategy called "budding," used in coral. A daughter organism grows directly from the coral, and its DNA matches exactly the DNA of the parent organism. This offers a certain advantage -- if the coral is successfully reproducing, its exact DNA will likely offer its offspring the chance to reproduce as well. But it means the process of evolution is much slower in organisms that reproduce asexually.

Answer 2

The important difference is that sexual reproduction produces offspring with genes that are a combination of their parents' genes. Asexual reproduction, on the other hand, produces offspring that are copies, or clones, of the parent.

From that, you can see the answer: combination is going to produce more variation than copying.

Hope that helps!

Answer 3

Hey Jamiyah,

Here are some quick definitions for this problem:

1. sexual reproduction: where two gametes (cells with half the number of chromosomes) from two individuals combine to form one complete set of chromosomes, or genetic information
2. asexual reproduction: where a cell makes a complete copy of itself

Because asexual reproduction involves directly copying the genetic information in on singular cell, it does not lead to variation in its offspring, or the new cells that are formed. Sexual reproduction however involved two specialized cells, gametes, which each bring half of their genetic code in order to form a new, unique set of chromosomes and genetic information. Therefore, sexual reproduction leads to genetic variation in offspring!

Answer 4

Sexual reproduction combines two haploid cells during fertilization, one from each parent, whereas asexual reproduction produces offspring that are genetically identical to the parent cell. The high amount of genetic variation in offspring during sexual reproduction is due to the random union of gametes during fertilization and crossing-over during meiosis.

The answer to your question is that sexual reproduction produces a much greater amount of genetic variation.

Answer 5

Great question! For this question, the key point here is the difference between sexual and asexual reproduction:

1. Sexual reproduction involves two parents and the fusion of a sperm and an egg... each with their OWN set of genetic information. Therefore, the new organism that arises from the fusion of these sex cells (aka gametes) has a unique combination of genetic material--some from mom, and some from dad.
2. Asexual reproduction does not involve two parents... this is a way for an organism to create offspring with the exact same genetic material as itself. In other words, all of the offspring are exactly the same as the parent who produced them... so they're clones of the parent and of one another.

Based on this information, we can conclude that sexual reproduction results in offspring with more genetic variability, or genetic differences, because each new offspring comes from the fusion of a unique sperm cell and a unique egg cell, so all offspring are different from their parents and from one another.

Answer 6

Sexual reproduction results in offspring with greater genetic variation.

Asexual reproduction is essentially passing on the exact same genes from parents to offspring--the offspring are exact duplicates or clones of the parent, such as in single celled organisms like bacteria.

Sexual reproduction, on the other hand, involves fusion of gametes from two parents, which results in multiple possible combinations of genes that are carried on to offspring. The genetic variation is a result of meiosis, which is the process of cell division in gametes. During meiosis, there is rearrangement of genetic material as DNA from chromosomes is exchanged in a process called crossing over. There is also random arrangement of pairs of chromosomes as they are passed on from parents to offspring during meiosis in a process called independent assortment. All of these factors contribute to genetic variation via sexual reproduction.

Answer 7

Asexual reproduction is Mitosis. There is no recombining from two different individuals and chromosomes do not exchange parts therefore, no variation unless a mutation happens. In sexual reproduction or meiosis, the chromosomes line up then cross-over or exchange like sections (much like having two potato heads and switching parts to make different potatoes). Then only one of the chromosomes goes to the sex cells (egg or sperm). There are lots of potential combinations so more variation in the offspring.