Why organisms reproduce?

[taijishengnv]

organic chemistry reaction is a reaction relacting to the free organic componed!

[vishal]

Dear Mohit,

 

In my view, every Organism wants to live with a micro-environment created by similar people  (may be by secreting chemicals such as pheromone in the case of animals or human and any other chemical in the case of unicellular organisms) and that pressure is programmed in our genes to have more individuals like us. As a result, cells even unicellular organisms reproduce to achieve this task. You can understand this that by simple examples that every individual prefer to remain within a known society or country. It is a well known phenomenon that individual cell in a cell culture dish doesn't survive despite being getting enough nutrition and growth promoting conditions.

 

Vishal 

 

 

 

[current]

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.

Organisms reproduce to further their indentity .

 

Answer to both questions .

[Super Polymath]

Hello to all!http://scienceforums.com/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/smile.gif

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.

Because it's more efficient to divide and spread than to be one biologically immortal organism. Say an asteroid hits, if the organism has multiplied about the globe it will survive. All known organisms reproduce, and some of them are even biologically immortal. Though that's nothing compared to mastering fire. Edited April 27, 2017 by Super Polymath

[Super Polymath]

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.

Hydrothermal vents in the seabed of the Mirovia superocean gave way to the formation of these first organic molecules. Molecules don't reproduce though, these first complex "organic" molecules did seem to naturally reshape into the first ribonucleic and deoxyribonucleic acid double helix strands though, perhaps due to their sheer complexity and the submarine currents stretching their contents out into bonded strands that formed more protein molecules, which formed more DNA, which form more RNA, which formed more protein which are the train tracks that DNA runs along. And those were what self-replicated into the first cells.

 

From then on, it's natural selection, and the first single celled (and multi-cellular) organisms that copulated were the ones that survived, but the copulators weren't the only single celled organisms, but the ones that didn't copy themselves didn't last long. Multi-celled organisms didn't fix what wasn't broken, and copied themselves too.

 

I'd imagine that on another world, one with Venusian-like super critical liquid carbon dioxide oceans, you won't get DNA to create cells, but something else. But I garantee that life, even on a world like that, could form cells and, if they did, these cells would multiply and they might just form creatures.

 

And our primitive intellectual equivalents on a world like that wouldn't be fathomable to us in appearance (too many variables) and you don't play with fire in a Venusian-like atmosphere, they'd be play's with short controlled bursts (because fire is an explosion on Venus, no oxygen to sustain an ignited flame but plenty of combustible methane gas). However, formulaicly the control of temperature is the backbone of any kind of bizarre exotic civilization. Even if that means using fireworks as your fireplace.

Edited April 27, 2017 by Super Polymath

[Cottonshirt]

I think the answer is in the question. the OP actually said, "It is obvious that we notice organisms because they reproduce," and this needs to be considered.

suppose that, millions of years ago in the dawn of life there were several different organisms. some that reproduce and some that do not. obviously, the ones that do not reproduce will eventually die out, and the ones that do reproduce will, reproduce, form a next generation and experience evolution.

wind the clock forward two million years and the only organisms that can be observed by humans are the ones that have reproduced. we can see only those that have not died out. they do not reproduce for a reason or to serve some purpose, it is simply that we can only see those that have reproduced.

occasionally, an organism comes along that cannot reproduce. a mule, for example, and even if all the mules on earth died out, as long as there are still horses and donkeys there can always be more mules.

from this we establish that a) not all organisms can reproduce, b) the death of all examples of an organism does not necessarily imply that there will never be another one, and c) reproduction is not a necessary part of what it means to be alive.