Question

What is meant by sexual reproduction? Name its two main processes.

Answer 1

Hint: Sexual reproduction occurs when two parents (male and female) donate their gametes which fuse to produce an offspring. Gametes are produced by a cell division called meiosis.

Complete answer: Reproduction is a mechanism of life that enables an organism to reproduce its offspring. There are two types of reproduction: sexual and asexual.
Sexual reproduction involves two parents from the opposite sexes, while asexual reproduction involves a single parent.
In sexual reproduction, male and female parents prepare their gametes, and then by mating processes, two types of gametes fuse together to form a zygote.
The zygote then develops into a complete offspring.
Two main processes of sexual reproduction:
Sexual reproduction involves:
1) production of gametes and
2) fusion of gametes.
Production of gametes takes place by a unique type of cell division called meiosis.
The fusion of gametes takes place by fertilization.

Additional information: In human reproduction, each cell has 46 chromosomes in 23 pairs.
Meiosis in the parents' gonads forms gametes that each contain only 23 chromosomes that are genetic recombinants of the DNA sequences present in the parental chromosomes.
When the nuclei of the gametes come together to produce a fertilized egg/ zygote, each cell of the resulting child will have 23 chromosomes from each parent or 46 in total.

Note: Meiosis is a cell division process that divides a diploid parent cell into haploid gametes. The chromosome number becomes half (2n to n). Fertilization is the process in which the haploid male and female gametes join or fuse to produce a diploid zygote. Here the chromosome number gets restored (n + n = 2n).