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Overview

Sexual reproduction is a way of reproduction of some

animals and plants. Some protists and fungi also
reproduce this way. Organisms that reproduce sexually
have two different sexes: male and female.

Offspring is made by a cell from the male and a cell of the

female. Different steps are involved in the process.

The cells of an animal or higher plant have two sets of

chromosomes: they are diploid. When gametes (sex cells)
are produced, they have only one set of chromosomes:
they are haploid. They have undergone a process of cell
division called meiosis. During meiosis, crossing over
occurs. This makes it possible to get recombination. This
has various consequences. It means, for example, that all
the children of two parents are not identical, except in the
rare case where they developed from the same fertilized
egg.

The second step is called fertilization. In it, the two cells

merge into one. This restores the diploid state.

Fertilization is what happens when a female's ovum (or

"egg") joins together with a male's sperm and they form a
zygote.

Fertilization is also called conception. In humans,

biologists call a fertilized egg a zygote.

Zygote
A zygote is the fertilized cell that will grow into a baby
animal. When a female's ovum and a male's sperm cell
become one, this cell is called the zygote. The zygote then
multiplies, and grows into an embryo. A zygote is the cell
that results from fertilization. A zygote is synthesized from
the union of two gametes, and constitutes the first stage in
a organism's development. Zygotes are produced by
fertilization between two haploid cells, the ovum and the
sperm cells, which make a diploid cell. Diploid cells have
copies of parent chromosome or DNA.
Some animals keep the zygote in their bodies until it is a
full-grown baby. The time between the forming of the
zygote and the baby's birth is called pregnancy. Other
animals do not keep the zygote in their bodies, but lay an
egg. The zygote grows inside the egg until it is ready and
the baby animal hatches. The fertilized egg now starts to
divide and produce the embryo.

It is called an embryo from 3-8 weeks (the embryonic

period.) Then after 8 weeks, it is called a fetus. If it
continues to grow normally it can eventually become a
baby.

Terms
Gonads- specialized sex organs where gametes are
formed. In the male, the gonad is the testes, while in the
female, the gonad is the ovaries.

Diploid cells- (indicated by 2n) have two homologous

copies of each chromosome, usually one from the mother
and one from the father.

Haploid cells -The haploid number (n) is the number of

chromosomes in a gamete.

Gametes -- specialized sex cells formed in gonads by

gametogenesis. The male gamete is the sperm, and the
female is ovum(ova pl) or egg.

Zygote - produced by fertilization between two haploid

cells, the ovum and the sperm cells, which make a diploid
cell.