MEPX
Chapter 8 of 10All chapters
  1. 1What living things share
  2. 2Cells
  3. 3DNA
  4. 4Inheritance
  5. 5Mutation and variation
  6. 6Genes and environment
  7. 7From cells to organisms
  8. 8Reproduction
  9. 9Populations and ecosystems
  10. 10Modern genetics

Chapter 8 of 10

Reproduction

Two strategies.

Sexual and asexual

Asexual reproduction is fast and produces copies. Sexual reproduction is slower, costs half your genes per offspring, and generates variation that helps against parasites and change.

  • Bacteria also swap genes sideways, which is how resistance spreads so quickly.
  • Variation is the payment sexual reproduction buys.

Development

A single fertilised cell divides and specialises into a whole organism, guided by genes switching each other on in sequence. The same core genes control body layout across very different animals.