What is "asexual reproduction"?
914597
Asexual reproduction is the reproduction of a single individual without the use of sex.  Sex is defined as the halving of the chromosome number of an individual and its subsequent reconstitution at the fusion of the gametes (egg and sperm).  \nBasically asexual reproduction creates the clone of an individual as one individual copies its own genome and then splits into two individuals.\n\nBacteria and Archaeans (so all prokaryotes) reproduce only by asexual reproduction.  Also sponges have the ability to produce a full individual if one individual is broken into two pieces, which is called regeneration.  Also sea stars, sea anenomes, flatworms (etc.) are able to reproduce asexually by regeneration.
358420
universal precautions are things like hand washing, gloves, ect. reproduction is the replication of one like the parent, be it a cell or organism, sexual or asexual.
855495
very simple\n\nBecause sexual reproduction involves 2 species(man and woman) which entails 2 different genetic make-up. Therefore,\nthe offspring that will be produced will be based from the resulting gene of the mother and the father\n\nwhile asexual reproduction do not involve a 2nd party and so naturally it will produce another organism which is identical since it is organically within its genetic make-up
1055668
I'm asexual.  Its a sexual orientation and has nothing to do with reproduction in the sense that you asked the question.\n\nWhen I was 12, there were several girls in my class that had crushes on me.  However, I could not respond to them because I was an asexual (and didn't know it).  When I was 15, I told an older friend of the family that I had no attraction toward girls,.  He said that I would be attracted to them in a few years.  Well, I'm still waiting.  I'm not attracted to boys or girls.\n\nYou could very well be an asexual.  'Asexual' is now recognized as a valid sexual orientation.  You should have had at least one crush by now  if you are heterosexual.  Its OK to be curious about sex, but that's not an indication of your orientation.\n\nI strongly suggest that you do not give in to social pressure and do things that you don't really want to do.  Just be yourself and don't do anything you'll regret.
77951
There are many different types of "sex" practiced in the plant and animal kingdoms besides the type we humans are familiar with. There are species in which the fathers get pregnant (like seahorses). There are species where males will turn into females (or vice-versa) if it would help the species survive. There are lots of examples of parthenogensis (virgin birth). There are cases where a single individual (like a plant) will pollinate itself, but others where biology tries to prevent this, although the plant might be hermaphroditic. There are plants which have several different reproduction mechanisms; a piece of the root can produce a new individual, for example. Some organisms can engage in both sexual and asexual reproduction as well; earthworms, honeybees, and geckos can asexually reproduce. There are species with 3 or even more sexes (like the clam shrimp in the US, for example, which has 3 sexes, or possibly  the New Zealand lizard the tuatara, which appears to have 4 sexes. There are species where males just fertilize the eggs deposited by the female in some location (most fish). Bacteria and viruses reproduce in strange ways, by dividing, or by taking over the reproduction mechanism of some other organism. \n\nThe astounding variety of "sex" and/or reproduction just goes on and on and on. We are still learning about the amazing diversity of life on this planet. \n\nIf and when we ever discover life on other planets, you can be sure that they will have different ways to reproduce, that may or may not have anything to do with what we might recognize as sex, and probably using mechanisms we cannot even imagine.
728867
In biology, meiosis is the process that allows one diploid cell to divide in a special way to generate haploid cells in eukaryotes. The word "meiosis" comes from the Greek meioun, meaning "to make smaller," since it results in a reduction in chromosome number.\n\nMeiosis is essential for sexual reproduction. It therefore occurs in most eukaryotes, including single-celled organisms. A few eukaryotes, notably the Bdelloid rotifers, have lost the ability to carry out meiosis and acquired the ability to reproduce by parthenogenesis. Meiosis does not occur in archaea or prokaryotes, which reproduce by asexual cell division processes.\n\nDuring meiosis, the genome of a diploid germ cell, which is composed of long segments of DNA called chromosomes, undergoes DNA replication followed by two rounds of division, resulting in haploid cells called gametes. Each gamete contains one complete set of chromosomes, or half of the genetic content of the original cell. These resultant haploid cells can fuse with other haploid cells of the opposite gender or mating type during fertilization to create a new diploid cell, or zygote. Thus, the division mechanism of meiosis is a reciprocal process to the joining of two genomes that occurs at fertilization. Because the chromosomes of each parent undergo genetic recombination during meiosis, each gamete, and thus each zygote, will have a unique genetic blueprint encoded in its DNA. In other words, meiosis is the process that produces genetic variation.\n\nBiochemically, meiosis uses some of the same mechanisms employed during mitosis to accomplish the redistribution of chromosomes. There are several features unique to meiosis, most importantly the pairing and recombination between homologous chromosomes, which enable them to separate from each other.click here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiosis#History\n\nMitosis is the process by which a cell separates its duplicated genome into two identical halves. It is generally followed immediately by cytokinesis which divides the cytoplasm and cell membrane. This results in two identical daughter cells with a roughly equal distribution of organelles and other cellular components. Mitosis and cytokinesis together is defined as the mitotic (M) phase of the cell cycle, the division of the mother cell into two daughter cells, each the genetic equivalent of the parent cell.\n\nMitosis occurs exclusively in eukaryotic cells. In multicellular organisms, the somatic cells undergo mitosis, while germ cells — cells destined to become sperm in males or ova in females — divide by a related process called meiosis. Prokaryotic cells, which lack a nucleus, divide by a process called binary fission.\n\nBecause cytokinesis usually occurs in conjunction with mitosis, "mitosis" is often used interchangeably with "mitotic phase". However, there are many cells where mitosis and cytokinesis occur separately, forming single cells with multiple nuclei. This occurs most notably among the fungi and slime moulds, but is found in various different groups. Even in animals, cytokinesis and mitosis may occur independently, for instance during certain stages of fruit fly embryonic development.\n\nTranscription is generally believed to cease during mitosis, but epigenetic mechanisms such as bookmarking function during this stage of the cell cycle to ensure that the "memory" of which genes were active prior to entry into mitosis are transmitted to the daughter cells.click here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitosis#Overview
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Nearly all animals undergo some form of sexual reproduction. Adults are diploid or occasionally polyploid. They have a few specialized reproductive cells, which undergo meiosis to produce smaller motile spermatozoa or larger non-motile ova. These fuse to form zygotes, which develop into new individuals.\n\nMany animals are also capable of asexual reproduction. This may take place through parthenogenesis, where fertile eggs are produced without mating, or in some cases through fragmentation.\n\nA zygote initially develops into a hollow sphere, called a blastula, which undergoes rearrangement and differentiation. In sponges, blastula larvae swim to a new location and develop into a new sponge. In most other groups, the blastula undergoes more complicated rearrangement. It first invaginates to form a gastrula with a digestive chamber, and two separate germ layers - an external ectoderm and an internal endoderm. In most cases, a mesoderm also develops between them. These germ layers then differentiate to form tissues and organs.\n\nAnimals grow by indirectly using the energy of sunlight. Plants use this energy to turn air into simple sugars using a process known as photosynthesis. These sugars are then used as the building blocks which allow the plant to grow. When animals eat these plants (or eat other animals which have eaten plants), the sugars produced by the plant are used by the animal. They are either used directly to help the animal grow, or broken down, releasing stored solar energy, and giving the animal the energy required for motion. This process is known as glycolysis.
868417
Well, for one, reproduction would be no fun:  no sex.  \n\nFor another, biodiversity would be almost nonexistent because when cells reproduce asexually they produce carbon copies of themselves.  So if I were to asexually reproduce I would end up with a child whose only difference from me would be its age.  It might even be the same size as me, since the result of mitosis is two identically sized cells.
172649
Think about the advantages of each reproductive mode. Asexual is easy, and fast, and the offspring are clones.\nSexual is more complex and the offspring get a combination of both parents' genome, as well as new variations that could have arisen during gamete production. Natural selection, which will influence these organisms heavily under changing conditions, acts upon these random variations.
809779
1. b, because even if the father was heterzygous, there would still be a 3:1 ratio of brown eyed offspring\n2.d, autotrophs are organisms that produce their own food and do not need to  get nutrients from other sources\n3. True, I believe that fertilization occurs in all sexuallly reproducing species, but there are some organisms that reproduce asexually, but you may not be talking about those.\n4. False, There are asexual organisms that are eukaryotic
244365
zero!  asexual reproduction hasn't occurred in the human species yet.
753339
In zoology it refers to organisms which have two distinct morphologic forms, where the offspring of each form is the opposite form. Typically one of the forms reproduces sexually, the other asexually. For example, some coelenterates have a free-swimming medusa (jellyfish-like) stage, and a sessile polyp (anemone-like) stage. The mature polyps reproduce asexually by budding off medusae. The medusae once mature reproduce sexually, shedding gametes into the water, and the resulting embryos settle to the bottom, attach to the substrate, and grow into polyps, which once mature produce more medusae ...
573820
Fragmentation or Clonal Fragmentation is a form of asexual reproduction where an organism is split into fragments. The splitting may or may not be intentional. Each of these fragments develop into mature, fully grown individuals that are a clone of the original organism. If the organism is split any further the process is repeated.\n\nFragmentation is seen in organisms such as molds, some annelid worms, and starfish.\n\nMolds, yeast, and mushrooms, all of which are part of the Fungi kingdom, produce tiny filaments called hyphae. These hyphae obtain food and nutrients from the body of other organisms to grow and fertilize. Then a piece of hyphae breaks off and grows into a new individual and the cycle continues.
962730
The word you are looking for is 'parthenogenesis', which is defined as the development of an egg into an embryo without the participation of a sperm.\n\nIn fact, many invertebrates, and even some vertebrates do this.
812119
asexual reproduction doesn't require two partners in order to reproduce...sexual is the opposite.  It requires two creatures of the opposite sex in order to reproduce.
401226
The whiptail lizard has asexual reproduction. Check out this web site:\n\nhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/5/l_015_01.html
207392
In organisms that reproduce only sexually, the mutations in somatic cells normally don't go beyond the individual. But in the case of organisms that can reproduce asexually, by means of divisions of those somatic cells, a mutation in those cells could be passed to the descendants and thus be under the influence of evolutionary forces. \nThat's a common event in plants, especially a type of mutation called polyploidy (multiplication of the entire chromosome set). These types of mutations are also induced by man to obtain new varieties.