page_title: Zygote
hierarchical_section_title: Zygote
caption_attribution_description: English: Zygote
context_page_description: A zygote is a eukaryotic cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes. The zygote's genome is a combination of the DNA in each gamete, and contains all of the genetic information necessary to form a new individual. In multicellular organisms, the zygote is the earliest developmental stage. In single-celled organisms, the zygote can divide asexually by mitosis to produce identical offspring.
  German zoologists Oscar and Richard Hertwig made some of the first discoveries on animal zygote formation in the late 19th century.
context_section_description: A zygote (from Greek ζυγωτός zygōtos "joined" or "yoked", from ζυγοῦν zygoun "to join" or "to yoke") is a eukaryotic cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes. The zygote's genome is a combination of the DNA in each gamete, and contains all of the genetic information necessary to form a new individual. In multicellular organisms, the zygote is the earliest developmental stage. In single-celled organisms, the zygote can divide asexually by mitosis to produce identical offspring.
  German zoologists Oscar and Richard Hertwig made some of the first discoveries on animal zygote formation in the late 19th century.
caption: Zygote: egg cell after fertilization with a sperm. The male and female pronuclei are converging, but the genetic material is not yet united.
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