Final answer:
Human gametes are produced by meiosis, a two-step cell division process that creates haploid cells essential for sexual reproduction and genetic diversity.
Step-by-step explanation:
Human gametes are produced by meiosis. This process involves two rounds of cell division that reduce the chromosome number by half, resulting in haploid cells. Meiosis is essential for sexual reproduction because it ensures that each parent contributes one set of chromosomes to their offspring. The gametes, sperm in males and eggs in females, fuse during fertilization to form a diploid zygote, which then undergoes mitosis to develop into an adult organism. The process introduces genetic variation, which is considered crucial for the evolutionary success of sexual reproduction.