Origin of sex

Question 1

When did the common ancestor for all multicellular life live?

Answer 1

1.5 bya

Question 2

What is the snowball earth?

Answer 2

series of glaciations extending to the equator, thought to be caused by low co2 levels in the atmosphere due to high rates of photosynthesis

Question 3

What is mitosis?

Answer 3

Natural cell division to produce identical daughter cells, asexual reproduction

Question 4

What is meiosis?

Answer 4

Sexual reproduction, producing genetically different daughter cells,

Question 5

How are genetically different cells produced in meiosis?

Answer 5

Random assortment, crossing over and mutation

Question 6

What is the problem with sex?

Answer 6

Very inefficient, waste of energy

Question 7

What are the advantages of sex?

Answer 7

Can shed harmful mutations better and more variation in the population.

Question 8

What are the reasons why sex may have evolved?

Answer 8

Method of adapting to change faster
Method of fighting disease
Method for repairing genes
Historical accident

Question 9

Why is historical accident the only explanation for the evolution of sex?

Answer 9

Others aren’t probable as evolution has no foresight or direction

Question 10

When did sex evolve?

Answer 10

1.2BYA

Question 11

what is the evidence that sex evolved in eukaryotes?

Answer 11

Some primitive eukaryotes don’t sexually reproduce, so arouse in eukaryotes

Question 12

How may multicellularity have evolved?

Answer 12

Experimentation with colony formation

Question 13

What is the advantage of multicellularity

Answer 13

division of labour, cells become specialised