Background: The advantage of asexual reproduction is that it can be very quick and does not require the meeting of a male and female organism. The disadvantage of asexual reproduction is that organisms do not receive a mix of traits from both parents. An organism that is born through asexual reproduction only has the DNA from the one parent. In fact, the offspring is genetically an exact copy of the parent. This can cause problems for the individual. For example, if the parent has a gene that causes a particular disease, the offspring will also have the gene that causes that disease. Organisms produced sexually may or may not inherit the disease gene because they receive a mix of their parents' genes.

Situation: James is a marine biologist. On a recent deep sea dive, he discovered two new organisms. James took the organisms back to his lab to study them. While in the lab, each organism produced an offspring. Since the organisms were previously undiscovered, James must determine how these organisms reproduce in order to correctly classify them. After examining the DNA of each offspring, James finds that the offspring of organism A shares the exact same DNA as the parent organism and the offspring of organism B does not contain the exact same DNA as the parent organism.

Question: Which organism reproduced asexually, organism A or organism B?

Situation: James is a marine biologist. On a recent deep sea dive, he discovered two new organisms. James took the organisms back to his lab to study them. While in the lab, each organism produced an offspring. Since the organisms were previously undiscovered, James must determine how these organisms reproduce in order to correctly classify them. After examining the DNA of each offspring, James finds that the offspring of organism A shares the exact same DNA as the parent organism and the offspring of organism B does not contain the exact same DNA as the parent organism.

Question: Which organism reproduced sexually, organism A or organism B?

Situation: James is a marine biologist. On a recent deep sea dive, he discovered two new organisms. James took the organisms back to his lab to study them. While in the lab, each organism produced an offspring. Since the organisms were previously undiscovered, James must determine how these organisms reproduce in order to correctly classify them. After examining the DNA of each offspring, James finds that the offspring of organism A shares the exact same DNA as the parent organism and the offspring of organism B does not contain the exact same DNA as the parent organism.

Question: Did organism A reproduce sexually or asexually?

Situation: James is a marine biologist. On a recent deep sea dive, he discovered two new organisms. James took the organisms back to his lab to study them. While in the lab, each organism produced an offspring. Since the organisms were previously undiscovered, James must determine how these organisms reproduce in order to correctly classify them. After examining the DNA of each offspring, James finds that the offspring of organism A shares the exact same DNA as the parent organism and the offspring of organism B does not contain the exact same DNA as the parent organism.

Question: Did organism B reproduce sexually or asexually?