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Reproduction
Thus, reproduction at its most basic level will involve making copies of the blueprints of body design. The
chromosomes in the nucleus of a cell contain information for inheritance of features from parents to next
generation in the form of DNA (Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid) molecules. The DNA in the cell nucleus is the
information source for making proteins. If the information is changed, different proteins will be made.
Different proteins will eventually lead to altered body designs.
Therefore, a basic event in reproduction is the creation of a DNA copy. Cells use chemical reactions to build
copies of their DNA. This creates two copies of the DNA in a reproducing cell, and they will need to be
separated from each other. However, keeping one copy of DNA in the original cell and simply pushing the
other one out would not work, because the copy pushed out would not have any organized cellular structure
for maintaining life processes. Therefore, DNA copying is accompanied by the creation of an additional
cellular apparatus, and then the DNA copies separate, each with its own cellular apparatus. Effectively, a cell
divides to give rise to two cells.
Effectively, a cell divides to give rise to two cells. No bio-chemical reaction is absolutely reliable. Therefore, it
is only to be expected that the process of copying the DNA will have some variations each time. As a result,
the DNA copies generated will be similar, but may not be identical to the original. Some of these variations
might be so drastic that the new DNA copy cannot work with the cellular apparatus it inherits. Such a
newborn cell will simply die. On the other hand, there could still be many other variations in the DNA copies
that would not lead to such a drastic outcome. Thus, the surviving cells are similar to, but subtly different
from each other.

Importance of Variation
Populations of organisms fill well-defined places, or niches, in the ecosystem, using their ability to reproduce.
The consistency of DNA copying during reproduction is important for the maintenance of body design
features that allow the organism to use that particular niche. Reproduction is therefore linked to the stability
of populations of species.
However, niches can change because of reasons beyond the control of the organisms. Temperatures on earth
can go up or down, water levels can vary, or there could be meteorite hits, to think of a few examples. If a
population of reproducing organisms were suited to a particular niche and if the niche were drastically
altered, the population could be wiped out. However, if some variations were to be present in a few
individuals in these populations, there would be some chance for them to survive. Thus, if there were a
population of bacteria living in temperate waters, and if the water temperature were to be increased by
global warming, most of these bacteria would die, but the few variants resistant to heat would survive and
grow further. Variation is thus useful for the survival of species over time.

Asexual Reproduction
All the modes of reproduction that we have discussed so far allow new generations to be created from a
single individual. This is known as asexual reproduction.

Binary Fission

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For unicellular organisms, cell division, or fission, leads to the

creation of new individuals. Many different patterns of fission have
been observed. Many bacteria and protozoa simply split into two
equal halves during cell division. In organisms such as Amoeba, the
splitting of the two cells during division can take place in any plane.
Some unicellular organisms show somewhat more organization of their bodies, such as is seen in Leishmania
(which cause kala-azar), which have a whip-like structure at one end of the cell. In such organisms, binary
fission occurs in a definite orientation in relation to these structures.

Multiple Fission
Other single-celled organisms, such as the malarial parasite, Plasmodium, divide into
many daughter cells simultaneously by multiple fission. Yeast, on the other hand, can
put out small buds that separate and grow further.

Fragmentation
In multi-cellular organisms with relatively simple body organisation, simple
reproductive methods can still work.
Spirogyra, for example, simply breaks up into smaller pieces upon maturation. These
pieces or fragments grow into new individuals.
This is not true for all multi-cellular organisms. They cannot simply divide cell-by-cell. The reason is that many
multi-cellular organisms, as we have seen, are not simply a random collection of cells. Specialized cells are
organized as tissues, and tissues are organized into organs, which then have to be placed at definite positions
in the body. In such a carefully organized situation, cell-by-cell division would be impractical.
Following this general pattern, reproduction in such organisms is also the function of a specific cell type.
There must be a single cell type in the organism that is capable of growing, proliferating and making other
cell types under the right circumstances.

Regeneration
Many fully differentiated organisms have the ability to give rise to new
individual organisms from their body parts. That is, if the individual is
somehow cut or broken up into many pieces, many of these pieces grow
into separate individuals. For example, simple animals like Hydra and
Planaria can be cut into any number of pieces and each piece grows into
a complete organism. This is known as regeneration and is carried out by
specialized cells.
These cells proliferate and make large numbers of cells. From this mass
of cells, different cells undergo changes to become various cell types and
tissues. These changes take place in an organised sequence referred to as
development. However, regeneration is not the same as reproduction,
since most organisms would not normally depend on being cut up to be
able to reproduce.

Budding
Organisms such as Hydra use regenerative cells for reproduction in the process of budding. In Hydra, a bud
develops as an outgrowth due to repeated cell division at one specific site. These buds develop into tiny
individuals and when fully mature, detach from the parent body and become new independent individuals.

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Vegetative Propagation
There are many plants in which parts like the root, stem and leaves develop into new plants under
appropriate conditions. Unlike in most animals, plants can indeed use such a mode for reproduction.
This property of vegetative propagation is used in methods such as layering or grafting to grow many plants
like sugarcane, roses, or grapes for agricultural purposes.
Plants raised by vegetative propagation can
1. Bear flowers and fruits earlier than those produced from
seeds.
2. Such methods also make possible the propagation of
plants such as banana, orange, rose and jasmine that have
lost the capacity to produce seeds.
3. Another advantage of vegetative propagation is that all
plants produced are genetically similar enough to the
parent plant to have all its characteristics.
Similarly, buds produced in the notches along the leaf margin of
Bryophyllum fall on the soil and develop into new plants.

Tissue Culture
In tissue culture, new plants are grown by removing tissue or separating cells from the growing tip of a plant.
The cells are then placed in an artificial medium where they divide rapidly to form a small group of cells or
callus. The callus is transferred to another medium containing hormones for growth and differentiation. The
plantlets are then placed in the soil so that they can grow into mature plants. Using tissue culture, many
plants can be grown from one parent in disease-free conditions. This technique is commonly used for
ornamental plants.

Spore Formation
Even in many simple multi-cellular organisms, specific reproductive parts can be identified. The thread-like
structures that developed on the bread above are the hyphae of the bread mould (Rhizopus). They are not
reproductive parts. On the other hand, the tiny blob-on-a-stick structures are involved in reproduction. The
blobs are sporangia, which contain cells, or spores, that can eventually develop into new Rhizopus
individuals. The spores are covered by thick walls that protect them until they come into contact with
another moist surface and can begin to grow.

Sexual Reproduction
The creation of two new cells from one involves copying of the DNA as well as of the cellular apparatus. The
DNA copying mechanism, cannot be absolutely accurate, and the resultant errors are a source of variations in

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populations of organisms. Every individual organism cannot be protected by variations, but in a population,
variations are useful for ensuring the survival of the species. It would therefore make sense if organisms
came up with reproductive modes that allowed more and more variation to be generated.
While DNA-copying mechanisms are not absolutely accurate, they are precise enough to make the generation
of variation a fairly slow process. If the DNA copying mechanisms were to be less accurate, many of the
resultant DNA copies would not be able to work with the cellular apparatus and would die. Each new
variation is made in a DNA copy that already has variations accumulated from previous generations. Thus,
two different individuals in a population would have quite different patterns of accumulated variations. Since
all of these variations are in living individuals, it is assured that they do not have any really bad effects.
Combining variations from two or more individuals would thus create new combinations of variants. Each
combination would be novel, since it would involve two different individuals. The sexual mode of
reproduction incorporates such a process of combining DNA from two different individuals during
reproduction.
But this creates a major difficulty. If each new generation is to be the combination of the DNA copies from
two pre-existing individuals, then each new generation will end up having twice the amount of DNA that the
previous generation had. This is likely to mess up the control of the cellular apparatus by the DNA. Besides, if
each generation doubles its DNA, fairly soon there will be only DNA on earth, with no room for anything else.
As organisms become more complex, the specialization of tissue increases. One solution that many multi-
cellular organisms have found for the problem mentioned above is to have special lineages of cells in
specialized organs which have only half the number of chromosomes and half the amount of DNA as
compared to the nonreproductive body cells. Thus, when these germ-cells from two individuals combine
during sexual reproduction to form a new individual, it results in re-establishment of the number of
chromosomes and the DNA content in the new generation.
If the zygote is to grow and develop into an organism which has highly specialized tissues and organs, then it
has to have sufficient stores of energy for doing this. In very simple organisms, it is seen that the two germ-
cells are not very different from one another or may even be similar. But as the body designs become more
complex, the germ-cells also specialize. One germ-cell is large and contains the food-stores while the other is
smaller and likely to be motile. Conventionally, the motile germ cell is called the male gamete and the
germ-cell containing the stored food is called the female gamete.

Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants

The reproductive parts of angiosperms are located in the
flower. The different parts of a flower – sepals, petals,
stamens and carpels.
Stamens and carpels are the reproductive parts of a
flower which contain the germ-cells.
The flower may be unisexual
(papaya, watermelon) when it
contains either stamens or
carpels or bisexual (Hibiscus,
mustard) when it contains both
stamens and carpels. Stamen is
the male reproductive part and it
produces pollen grains that are yellowish in colour. Carpel is present in the centre of a
flower and is the female reproductive part. It is made of three parts. The swollen
bottom part is the ovary, middle elongated part is the style and the terminal part
which may be sticky is the stigma. The ovary contains ovules and each ovule has an
egg cell.
The male germ-cell produced by pollen grain fuses with the female gamete present in

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the ovule. This fusion of the germ-cells or fertilization gives us the zygote which is capable of growing into a
new plant.
Thus, the pollen needs to be transferred from the stamen to the stigma. If this transfer of pollen occurs in
the same flower, it is referred to as self-pollination. On the other hand, if the pollen is transferred from one
flower to another, it is known as crosspollination. This transfer of pollen from one flower to another is
achieved by agents like wind, water or animals. After the pollen lands on a suitable stigma, it has to reach
the female germ-cells which are in the ovary. For this, a tube grows out of the pollen grain and travels
through the style to reach the ovary.
After fertilization, the zygote divides several times to form an
embryo within the ovule. The ovule develops a tough coat and is
gradually converted into a seed. The ovary grows rapidly and ripens
to form a fruit. Meanwhile, the petals, sepals, stamens, style and
stigma may shrivel and fall off. The seed contains the future plant
or embryo which develops into a seedling under appropriate
conditions. This process is known as germination.

Reproduction in Human Beings

We acquire teeth, we even lose the old, so-called milk teeth and acquire new ones. All of these are changes
that can be grouped under the general process of growth, in which the body becomes larger.
But in early teenage years, a whole new set of changes occurs that cannot be explained simply as body
enlargement. Instead, the appearance of the body changes. Proportions change, new features appear, and so
do new sensations.
Some of these changes are common to both boys and girls.
1. We begin to notice thick hair growing in new parts of the body such as armpits and the genital area
between the thighs, which can also become darker in colour.
2. Thinner hair can also appear on legs and arms, as well as on the face.
3. The skin frequently becomes oily and we might begin to develop pimples.
4. We begin to be conscious and aware of both our own bodies and those of others in new ways.
On the other hand, there are also changes taking place that are different between boys and girls.
In girls:
1. Breast size begins to increase, with darkening of the skin of the nipples at the tips of the breasts.
2. Also, girls begin to menstruate at around this time.
In Boys
1. Boys begin to have new thick hair growth on the face and their voices begin to crack.
2. Further, the penis occasionally begins to become enlarged and erect, either in daydreams or at night.
All of these changes take place slowly, over a period of months and years. They do not happen all at the same
time in one person, nor do they happen at an exact age. In some people, they happen early and quickly, while
in others, they can happen very slowly. Also, each change does not become complete quickly either. So, for
example, thick hair on the face in boys appears as a few scattered hairs first, and only slowly does the growth
begin to become uniform. Even so, all these changes show differences between people. Just as we have
differently shaped noses or fingers, so also we have different patterns of hair growth, or size and shape of
breast or penis. All of these changes are aspects of the sexual maturation of the body.
The creation of germ-cells to participate in sexual reproduction is another specialized function, and we have
seen that plants develop special cell and tissue types to create them. Human beings also develop special
tissues for this purpose. However, while the body of the individual organism is growing to its adult size, the

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resources of the body are mainly directed at achieving this growth. While that is happening, the maturation
of the reproductive tissue is not likely to be a major priority. Thus, as the rate of general body growth begins
to slow down, reproductive tissues begin to mature. This period during adolescence is called puberty.
We must remember that the sexual mode of reproduction means that germ-cells from two individuals have
to join together. This can happen by the external release of germ-cells from the bodies of individuals, as
happens in flowering plants. Or it can happen by two individuals joining their bodies together for internal
transfer of germ-cells for fusion, as happens in many animals. If animals are to participate in this process of
mating, their state of sexual maturity must be identifiable by other individuals. Many changes during puberty,
such as new hair-growth patterns, are signals that sexual maturation is taking place.
On the other hand, the actual transfer of germ-cells between two people needs special organs for the sexual
act, such as the penis when it is capable of becoming erect. In mammals such as humans, the baby is carried
in the mother’s body for a long period and will be breast-fed later. The female reproductive organs and
breasts will need to mature to accommodate these possibilities.

Male Reproductive System

The male reproductive system consists of portions
which produce the germ-cells and other portions that
deliver the germ-cells to the site of fertilization. The
formation of germ-cells or sperms takes place in the
testes. These are located outside the abdominal cavity
in scrotum because sperm formation requires a lower
temperature than the normal body temperature.
Testes secrete of the hormone, testosterone.
In addition to regulating the formation of sperms,
testosterone brings about changes in appearance seen
in boys at the time of puberty.
 The sperms formed are delivered through the vas
deferens which unites with a tube coming from the
urinary bladder.
 The urethra thus forms a common passage for both the sperms and urine.
 Along the path of the vas deferens, glands like the prostate and the seminal vesicles add their secretions
so that the sperms are now in a fluid which makes their transport easier and this fluid also provides
nutrition.
 The sperms are tiny bodies that consist of mainly genetic material and a long tail that helps them to
move towards the female germ-cell.

Female Reproductive System

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The female germ-cells or eggs are made in the ovaries.

They are also responsible for the production of some
hormones. When a girl is born, the ovaries already contain
thousands of immature eggs. On reaching puberty, some of
these start maturing.
 One egg is produced every month by one of the
ovaries.
 The egg is carried from the ovary to the womb through
a thin oviduct or fallopian tube.
 The two oviducts unite into an elastic bag-like structure
known as the uterus.
 The uterus opens into the vagina through the cervix.
 The sperms enter through the vaginal passage during sexual intercourse. They travel upwards and reach
the oviduct where they may encounter the egg.
 The fertilized egg, the zygote, gets implanted in the lining of the uterus, and starts dividing. The mother’s
body is designed to undertake the development of the child.
 Hence the uterus prepares itself every month to receive and nurture the growing embryo. The lining
thickens and is richly supplied with blood to nourish the growing embryo.

 The embryo gets nutrition from the mother’s blood with the help of a special tissue called placenta.
o This is a disc which is embedded in the uterine wall.
o It contains villi on the embryo’s side of the tissue.
o On the mother’s side are blood spaces, which surround the villi. This provides a large surface area
for glucose and oxygen to pass from the mother to the embryo.
o The developing embryo will also generate waste substances which can be removed by
transferring them into the mother’s blood through the placenta.
 The development of the child inside the mother’s body takes approximately nine months. The child is
born as a result of rhythmic contractions of the muscles in the uterus.

What happens when the Egg is not Fertilized? Or Menstruation

 If the egg is not fertilized, it lives for about one day.
 Since the ovary releases one egg every month, the uterus also prepares itself every month to receive
a fertilized egg.
 Thus, its lining becomes thick and spongy. This would be required for nourishing the embryo if
fertilization had taken place.
 Now, however, this lining is not needed any longer. So, the lining slowly breaks and comes out
through the vagina as blood and mucous.
 This cycle takes place roughly every month and is known as menstruation. It usually lasts for about
two to eight days.

Reproductive Health
The process of sexual maturation is gradual, and takes place while general body growth is still going on.
Therefore, some degree of sexual maturation does not necessarily mean that the body or the mind is ready
for sexual acts or for having and bringing up children. All of us are under many different kinds of pressures
about these issues. There can be pressure from our friends for participating in many activities, whether we
really want to or not. There can be pressure from families to get married and start having children.
There can be pressure from government agencies to avoid having children. In this situation, making choices
can become very difficult. We must also consider the possible health consequences of having sex.

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Since the sexual act is a very intimate connection of bodies, it is not surprising that many diseases can be
sexually transmitted.
These include

 Bacterial infections such as gonorrhea and syphilis,

 Viral infections such as warts and HIV-AIDS(Human immunodeficiency virus-acquired immune
deficiency syndrome )
Using a covering, called a condom, for the penis during sex helps to prevent transmission of many of these
infections to some extent.
The sexual act always has the potential to lead to pregnancy. Pregnancy will make major demands on the
body and the mind of the woman, and if she is not ready for it, her health will be adversely affected.
Therefore, many ways have been devised to avoid pregnancy. These contraceptive methods fall in a number
of categories.
1. Mechanical Barrier: Creation of a mechanical barrier so that sperm does not reach the egg. Condoms
on the penis or similar coverings worn in the vagina can serve this purpose.
2. Hormonal Methods: Another category of contraceptives acts by changing the hormonal balance of
the body so that eggs are not released, and fertilization cannot occur. These drugs commonly need
to be taken orally as pills. However, since they change hormonal balances, they can cause side-effects
too.
3. Surgical Methods: Other contraceptive devices such as the loop or the copper-T are placed in the
uterus to prevent pregnancy.
Again, they can cause side effects due to irritation of the uterus.
If the vas deferens in the male is blocked, sperm transfer will be prevented.
If the fallopian tube in the female is blocked, the egg will not be able to reach the uterus.
In both cases fertilization will not take place. Surgical methods can be used to create such blocks.
While surgical methods are safe in the long run, surgery itself can cause infections and other
problems if not performed properly.
Surgery can also be used for removal of unwanted pregnancies. These may be misused by people who do not
want a particular child, as happens in illegal sex-selective abortion of female fetuses. For a healthy society,
the female-male sex ratio must be maintained. Because of reckless female feticides, child sex ratio is
declining at an alarming rate in some sections of our society, although prenatal sex determination has been
prohibited by law.
We have noted earlier that reproduction is the process by which organisms increase their populations. The
rates of birth and death in a given population will determine its size. The size of the human population is a
cause for concern for many people. This is because an expanding population makes it harder to improve
everybody’s standard of living. However, if inequality in society is the main reason for poor standards of living
for many people, the size of the population is relatively unimportant.