3) Advantages And Disadvantages Of Sexual And Asexual

• The advantages of sexual reproduction are:

  • it produces variation in the offspring
  • if the environment changes, any variation means that at least some organisms will be suited and can survive
  • it allows humans to selectively breed plants and animals, and increase food production
• The advantages of asexual reproduction are:

  • only one parent is needed
  • it is more time and energy efficient, as the organism does not need to find a mate
  • it is faster than sexual reproduction
  • many identical offspring can be produced to make the best use of good conditions.
• Some organisms can reproduce both sexually and asexually:

  many plants can produce seeds by sexual reproduction and can also reproduce asexually, e.g. using bulbs and runners

  many fungi can make spores by asexual or by sexual reproduction

  • malaria parasites reproduce sexually in the mosquito as well as asexually in humans.