Video Transcript
A student attempts to describe
asexual reproduction. He writes, “Asexual reproduction is
used by one organism to produce new offspring. Asexual reproduction creates
offspring that are all genetically different, and it does this quickly.” What is incorrect about this
description? (A) Organisms produced by asexual
reproduction are almost always genetically identical to each other and the parent,
not genetically different. (B) Asexual reproduction involves
two parents, not just one. Or (C) asexual reproduction is a
slow and time-consuming process, not a quick one.
This question asks us to describe
what is incorrect about a statement regarding asexual reproduction. Remember, reproduction is the
process by which an organism, or organisms, produce offspring. Genetic material, or DNA, contains
all of the necessary information for life. And reproduction involves the
transmission of this DNA from parents to offspring. You might have already learnt there
are two types of reproduction: sexual and asexual. Let’s review some similarities and
differences between the two to answer our question correctly.
Asexual reproduction only involves
one parent. This means that we can already
eliminate answer (B) as the student’s statement is actually correct regarding the
number of parents involved in asexual reproduction. And we are looking for the answer
choice which shows that their statement is incorrect. In contrast to asexual
reproduction, sexual reproduction usually involves two parents producing gametes, or
sex cells, which contain half of their genetic material. These gametes, such as the egg cell
and sperm cell in humans, then fuse together in fertilization. This combines the genetic material
from these two parents to produce offspring that are genetically different from both
parents, though they will share certain similarities.
In the case of asexual
reproduction, as only one parent is involved, it will produce offspring that are
nearly genetically identical to themselves. This suggests that the student is
incorrect in stating that asexual reproduction creates offspring that are all
genetically different and that the correct answer to this question is (A).
Let’s check the final statement
they have made to be sure about our choice.
A major benefit of asexual
reproduction is that it occurs fairly quickly. Some bacteria are actually able to
asexually reproduce in a matter of minutes. This means that option (C),
suggesting that asexual reproduction is a slow and time-consuming process, not a
quick one, is incorrect. And the part of the student’s
statement about asexual reproduction being quick is actually true.
This means that we can confirm the
correct answer to this question. The answer choice describing what
is incorrect in the student’s statement is (A). Organisms produced by asexual
reproduction are almost always genetically identical to each other and the parent,
not genetically different.
