module two

quiz 2

respond to braden alloway

For my discussion post this week, I am going to compare and contrast asexual and sexual organisms. Sexual organisms are organisms that reproduce by means of sex where a sperm meets an egg and genes combine to create a new, unique organism (EX: dogs). Asexual organisms are organisms that reproduce without sex (EX: starfish). In these species, the offspring is an exact genetic clone of the mother. This means that every single offspring in a certain asexual species are identical. To contrast to this, sexually-produced offspring are diverse and vary from one to the next. This is because sexual reproduction enters new genes into the gene pool each time an offspring is produced. This mixing of genes makes for genetically diverse species members that are never identical to others within that same species. Now, there are pros and cons to each type of reproduction. Asexual reproduction is fast, efficient, uses less energy, and can result in large numbers of organisms very quickly. With that, asexual reproduction is disadvantageous when environmental changes occur or a disease breaks out. Since every member in an asexual species is identical (genetically), any threat to one single member would be an equal threat to every member, resulting in mass wipe-outs due to no genetic diversity. Sexual reproduction is good because it produces genetically unique offspring making that species more adaptable to change and/or disease. A threat to one member may have no effect at all on another due to genetic makeup. This results in species living longer and not dying out due to environmental changes a.k.a. adaptability. The downsides of sex are: high energy consumption, STD risks, males & dominance/testosterone, and time. Dogs reproduce sexually while starfish reproduce asexually by fragmentation. For starfish, food scarcity could affect how starfish regrow resulting in deformation.