Question

Read the following statement. Then, based on your knowledge of cell biology, genetics, and evolution, decide to agree or disagree with the statement. Whichever you decide, write a short paragraph that provides solid evidence defending your choice.

"When you think about sexual reproduction, it makes no sense. After all, evolution selects for organisms that are best fit. In a population of sexually reproducing organisms, a mutant that reproduced asexually would increase its representation more quickly than the wild type; that is, it would have a higher fitness. So we should expect asexual reproduction to be much more widespread among eukaryotic species than it is."

Answer 1

Sexual reproduction's advantage lies in the genetic diversity it provides, enabling populations to adapt to changing environments, despite asexual reproduction's potential for faster population growth.

Step-by-step explanation:

While it might seem that asexual reproduction should be more advantageous due to its potential for rapid population growth, the complexities of evolutionary biology suggest otherwise. Sexual reproduction has prevalent benefits mainly related to genetic diversity. This diversity is crucial as it facilitates adaptation to changing environments and helps to eliminate deleterious mutations.

Although asexual reproduction enables every individual to produce offspring, leading to theoretical rapid population growth, sexual reproduction mixes genetic information in ways that create variability among offspring. This variation increases the chances of some individuals having advantageous traits that can cope with new challenges, such as changing environments, diseases, and predators.

Furthermore, sexual reproduction allows for the combination and reshuffling of genetic material through processes such as crossovers during prophase I and random assortment at metaphase I, continually introducing new genetic combinations into populations. In summary, the advantage of asexual reproduction in terms of rapid population growth is offset by the long-term evolutionary benefits conferred by the genetic diversity of sexual reproduction.