Why are eggs and sperms produced by meiosis?

Answer 1

Meiosis facilitates stable sexual reproduction. Without the halving of ploidy, or chromosome count, fertilization would result in zygotes that have twice the number of chromosomes as the zygotes from the previous generation. Successive generations would have an exponential increase in chromosome count. In organisms that are normally diploid, polyploidy, the state of having three or more sets of chromosomes, results in extreme developmental abnormalities or lethality. Polyploidy is poorly tolerated in most animal species. Plants, however, regularly produce fertile, viable polyploids. Polyploidy has been implicated as an important mechanism in plant speciation. Most importantly, recombination and independent assortment of homologous chromosomes allow for a greater diversity of genotypes in the population. This produces genetic variation in gametes that promote genetic and phenotypic variation in a population of offspring.

Answer 2

So reproduction can occur.

On a side note, gamete doesn't go through meiosis. That responsibility goes to gametocytes, such as spermatocyte or oocytes. Gametes are the ones that combine with the other gamete to form a zygote.

Answer 3

Eggs and sperm are produced by meiosis because it reduces the chromosome number by half, ensuring that when they combine during fertilization, the resulting zygote will have the correct number of chromosomes. This process creates genetic diversity in offspring by shuffling genetic material through recombination.

Answer 4

To divide and reproduce! If cells don't undergo meiosis..then cells can't divide and they won't be able to reproduce!

Answer 5

Meiosis is the cell division of gametes, or sex cells, and since sperm and egg are gametes, sperm and egg must be produced by meiosis.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

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