• Question: what is sex ?

    Asked by lilmissdanii to Steve, Sam, Ed on 22 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by ambularxxx, maggie246, sofiegrey, ciara1999, ema4.
    • Photo: Sam Tazzyman

      Sam Tazzyman answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      The biological definition of sex is a process of reproduction by combining and mixing genes. Usually this is done with specialised sex cells of two (or in some species more) types. In most species, including humans, we have eggs and sperm. The sperm is smaller, and contains genetic material from the father. The egg is larger, and contains genetic material from the mother. The two combine to form an offspring that is a genetic mix of both mother and father.

    • Photo: Steven Daly

      Steven Daly answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      What Sam said. Bacteria have something similar to sex called ‘horizontal gene transfer’. They basically just swap genes with each other!

    • Photo: Ed Morrison

      Ed Morrison answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Funnily enough, biologists don’t really know exactly why sex evolved. It would be much easier if animals and plants just cloned themselves without bothering to mix with someone else’s DNA or develop from a single cell. In fact, this is what many plants do.

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