Why organisms reproduce?

[Mohit Pandey]

Hello to all!:(

There is an interesting question in my textbook . It is obvious that we notice organisms because they reproduce. If there were to be only one, non reproducing organisms member of a particular kind, it is doubtful that we would have noticed its existence.

Let us ask a basic question-why do organism reproduce? After all, reproduction is not necessary to maintain the life of an individual organism, unlike the essential life processes as nutrition. On the other hand, if an individual organism is going to create more individuals, a lot of its energy will be spent in the process. So why should an organism waste energy on a process it does not need to stay alive?

Let us discuss the possible answers.

[Ganoderma]

my personal opinion is this. a sexual beings seem to be more prone to bad things happening, and may not adapt as fast (not taking into account many asexual things divide very fast). on a generation scale, not a time scale.

 

i think that if you have 2 separate sets of dna coming together "reproducing" you will have more traits that are more stable or "hardy" to the environment. if that makes any sense....

[freeztar]

A very good question Mohit! :(

 

The simplest answer, I suppose, would be instinct.

 

One must also think about "the chicken and the egg" and which came first. The organism must have come about from reproduction of another organism (unless we're talking about the first organism). So it makes sense that the organism continues with tradition because otherwise it would never have come to be.

 

Reproduction also offers a way for a species to extend its own mortality. I might die tomorrow, but my child will live on and though he is not me, he is half me.

 

I'm sure others will come along with better explanations, this is just off the top of my head...

[questor]

Organisms reproduce because they are directed to do so by genes. It is not correct to think that your cells do not renew themselves on a regular basis. It is obvious that your body has created new cells because you are larger now than when you were born. It is the job of cells to repair, maintain, replicate, and perform their own unique function. It is only the brain cells that do not replicate. Google ''human cell function''

[Mohit Pandey]

First of all, thanks to all.:)

A very good question Mohit! :)

 

The simplest answer, I suppose, would be instinct.

 

One must also think about "the chicken and the egg" and which came first. The organism must have come about from reproduction of another organism (unless we're talking about the first organism).

I think egg came first and egg came from an organism which had resemblance to the chicken species. Moreover it means that small variations(changes) in DNA resulted in the formation of chicken species. So that change will first occur in the egg.

Organisms reproduce because they are directed to do so by genes. It is not correct to think that your cells do not renew themselves on a regular basis. ...... It is the job of cells to repair, maintain, replicate, and perform their own unique function.

OK. Let it be the function of a cell. But on a long run, functions of cells that are useless to their survival should be eliminted by the process of natural selection and evolution, shouldn't it be?

i think that if you ....................... stable or "hardy" to the environment. if that makes any sense....

Sorry, it didn't make sense to me. The question is not on sexual and asexual reproduction.

[questor]

If you want to get all your questions answered, it is simple.. Google it! You will learn all about cell activity and the info will be accurate.

[Ganoderma]

ahh i gotcha...perhaps one could view reproduction as cell renewal...on a macroscopic level. all cells die, and all beings that have them die, so without some kind of reproduction our bodies just get bad and regenerating and regrowing everything. like a new start, or reset button.

[Eclogite]

Reproduction affords the opportunity to produce offspring that are more fit for the current environment than there parents. So natural selection favours such behaviour....... naturally.

[Mohit Pandey]

If you want to get all your questions answered, it is simple.. Google it! You will learn all about cell activity and the info will be accurate.

 

Thank you for your kind advice. :)Here there are the links suggested by you. Now find my answer as I couldn't find one.

1.why organism reproduce - Google Search

2. human cell function - Google Search

 

Here we all are in a friendly discussion,aren't we?

Ganoderma and Eclogite! I am pondering over your suggestion.

[questor]

Google ''cellular reproduction''. If you still have a question, let me know. Questor

[InfiniteNow]

Google ''cellular reproduction''. If you still have a question, let me know. Questor

 

Why? So you can tell him to google another term? :doh:

 

 

 

Mohit - When taking your original question in context of abiogenesis (maybe google that one ;) ), you will see that molecules existed prior to that which we call life. It was those molecules which replicated that increased in frequency. Those that did not replicate died, and hence, all of the life which remains on the planet now is a representation of previous life which successfully replicated or reproduced. Those that did not successfully reproduce stopped being represented in the population.

 

So... the behavior of producing offspring was selected for. Over years, those who had more surviving offspring represented a greater percentage of the population than those that did not have many (or any) surviving offspring.

 

As this process continued, those that were reinforced for reproducing did EVEN better than those that were not reinforced as much for reproducing. Considering this, the present day answer to your question is:

 

Because it feels really good (and that "goodness" feeling is the result of millennia of behavioral reinforcement itself supported by natural selection).

 

 

 

Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Right there! Oh... YEAH!!!!! :D

[questor]

Mohit, as I said, if you want SCIENTIFIC, CORRECT answers, Google the subject. That way ,you don't have to wade thru the .....

[InfiniteNow]

Mohit, as I said, if you want SCIENTIFIC, CORRECT answers, Google the subject. That way ,you don't have to wade thru the .....

 

This has to be the funniest quote I've seen on Hypography in a long time. I can't believe you are seriously suggesting that googling a topic PREVENTS one from having to "wade thru the..." nonsense. :hihi:

 

Concurrently, your statement implies that all google results are scientific and correct!

 

 

Hahahaha....

[questor]

Infy, how much of your time are you willing to waste on this continued

silliness? If you don't agree that Googling is better than relying upon people who have no depth on knowledge about a subject, then we disagree. We have already wasted a great deal of time on a subject that you disagree on.

Let us agree that we disagree and move on. A pissing contest does nobody any good.

[HydrogenBond]

Life reproduces because cells are designed to gain potential energy. When a critical energy level is reached, the potential energy is used to create another duplicate of itself. If an electron enters an atom, energy is given off and the state becomes stable or at lowest energy. But life is designed to go the other way, gaining potential energy as it accumulates fuel reserves. When it reaches a critical potential energy, sort of the top of an energy hill, it begins to slide down the other side resulting in two at the bottom of the energy valley. These then start their climb until they reach the top of a new energy hill, etc..

[InfiniteNow]

If you don't agree that Googling is better than relying upon people who have no depth on knowledge about a subject, then we disagree.

 

This is a strawman and a misrepresentation of my point.

[questor]

H.B., you are correct that the energy produced by the Kreb Cycle provides the ATP for cell reproduction. Do you have any insight as to how/why this reaction was designed to occur? In other words, what initiates the need for this series of reactions to take place?