what is the difference between a sperm cell and an egg cell?why do we need a sperm cell in order to reproduce?

Question

difference between an egg cell and a sperm cell??

Answer 1

The two different types of of cells ensure a mix of genes in our population.

I should point out that not all organisms need two cells. Some animals (even lizards!) regenerate via parthenogenesis, where the offspring are genetically identical to the parent.

At the same time, hermaphrodites like worms and snails have both male and female organs and when two meet and mate, both end up fertilizing the eggs of the other.

Answer 2

You've already gotten seveal good responces, but here is my take on it. The difference is pretty small. The Egg is much larger that the Sperm because it contains the cells organells as well as half of the genetic information. The Egg is generally unable to move on it's own. The Sperm on the other hand only contains it's half of the genetic information which will join with the Egg to form a new cell (and eventually a child). The sperm is also mobile and uses a special "tail" to move itself through the vagina and uterus to meet up with the Egg.
So why do we need the two. As most higher order organisms, Humans reproduce by sexual reproduction. That means we have Males and Females who each contribute half of their genetic information to produce an offspring which is a blend of the two parents. Some organisms (bacteria and such) reproduce by basically cloneing themselves. The problem with this is that should a disease affect the population and the population is all genetically the same, then they could be severaly hurt because they are all so close. In other words. Assume you are an exact copy of your mother. Now your mother catches a bacterial infection that her immune system cannot fight off. Because you are an exact copy of her you will also be unlikely to fight off the infection. If this infection is lethal then you will both die. But if your Mother is unable to fight it off but your Father is, and you are a blend of the two, then it is more likely that you will be able to fight off the infection. The same idea works for genetic problems such as hemophilia and other harmful mutations. So basically we need Sperm and Egg cells to ensure that the Genes are randomly mixed and thus produce a population that is more likely to survive.

Answer 3

Firstly, males produce sperm from puberty untill they die.

Females are born with a set number of eggs which form while the female is still a developing fetus.

The sperm cells are formed simply by the cells splitting like in mitosis, but instead of the missing half being coppied, they are left off and the information is inserted into a vehicle that looks oddly like a bacteria.

Eggs are created by first shuffling the genetic information randomly, then the cell is split in to two pieces. But only one becomes an egg. The left over piece dies and is reabsorbed into the ovary.

We need the sperm cell because it is the spern that descides the sex of the offspring. It also determines the genetic highs and lows, or the extremes of the offspring.

When the female produces her eggs, only her mothers DNA gets passed on. Her father's DNA is tossed out. The egg keeps the shape of the cell, but forms a hard covering that can only be broken through by certian enzymes produced by the spermazoa.

The eggs only have a shelf life of about three days from maturity, where as sperm cells can lie dormant for up to a week while waiting for an egg to fertalize.

Answer 4

For humans...The sperm cell is a cell that is uniquely made by a male and an egg cell is made by a female. The sperm cell only contains DNA (haploid - from meiosis) while the egg cell contains DNA (haploid - from meiosis) and organelles. When the two cells combine their genetic material you (normally) get a full complement of DNA (diploid). The sperm cell is needed to complete the process of fertilization. By having two different sexes it insures that under normal situations that the genetic diversity of the population will be abundant.

As mentioned above some species may only have females. However, the problem with this is that it works for the organism at this time but over the course of generations the genetic diversity of the population will decrease because all of the offspring are clones of the female parent. Therefore, an deleterious mutations that are acquired are passed on to all of the clones.

Answer 5

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sperm has a flagella that allows it to move (that long tail), the egg has a selective exterior (it only attaches to a certain specific type of sperm). They both have 23 chromosomes that have been reshuffled through in the second prophase of meiosis. Their nuclei fuse during conception and the ovum no longer allows any more sperm in. Also, the product of meiosis is 4 gametes with both eggand sperm (coming from one mother cell), however, when the ovum is created, the other three are a lot smaller and are destroyed and only one egg is kept from the product of meiosis. This means the egg is perfect and has all of the nutrition and genetic information needed to make a baby. Sperms may be defective (i.e. some with two flagella), but they do not make it to the egg. The ovum is almost never defective.

Answer 6

Egg Vs Sperm

Answer 7

The sperm cell comes from a male's testes and the egg cell comes from a woman's ovaries. You need a sperm cell because an egg cell only carries half of what is needed to make an infant.

Answer 8

The egg cell is produced by the woman, and the sperm cell is produced by the man. The sperm fertilizes the egg and that is the first step (conception) in having a baby.

Answer 9

Sperm cells come from male and tons and tons are produced by the male daily. Female produces eggs. In order to reproduce the sperm has to find it's way selectively by the egg and penetrate into the egg in order to fertilize the egg. At this point the damage is done and there is no point of return. This process, in human is called after conception, and after conception and during fertilization we have what's called genes exchange between the sperm and egg. When this is done, the fertilized egg strats to split in half, then in fourth, then in eightth?, then 16th, then 32nd, 64th, ect, ect, ect,.....

Answer 10

Well, for one thing the egg contains more genetic information, but the sperm is what decides whether the baby will be a boy (Y chromosome) or a girl (X chromosome).
Although the WHY of it all is a question that many philosophers have asked-- I can tell you that the more genetic diversity, the less chance you have of getting a serious illness. The more alike the genetics are, the better chance that something seriously wrong can express itself.
Hope that helps!