Final answer:
Reproduction is the process by which organisms produce new organisms; it is a fundamental trait of living beings and essential for genetic variation and evolutionary success.
Step-by-step explanation:
The process of an organism making a new organism is called reproduction. Reproduction is one of the defining characteristics of living organisms and comes in two basic forms: asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction. In sexual reproduction, processes like meiosis, genetic recombination, and fertilization contribute to the genetic variation among offspring.
Specifically, genetic recombination during meiosis, as well as the random assortment of chromosomes and the fertilization process where different gametes combine, lead to variation in sexually reproducing organisms. It is the driving force behind the evolutionary success of many species due to the genetic diversity it introduces into a population.