Production of eggs and sperm

• Main Authors: TAY, Jia-min Amanda, YONG, Jin Chuan, LI, Norman P.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: Eggs; Gamete dimorphism; Gametes; Intersexual selection; Intrasexual competition; Sexual reproduction; Sperm; Psychiatry and Psychology; Psychology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3260; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4517/viewcontent/Production_of_Eggs_and_Sperm_av.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The production of gametes is a biological process occurring in organisms that sexually reproduce. Females make gametes called eggs, and males make gametes called sperm. Both egg and sperm cells begin as identical germ cells and are produced through a process of cell division called meiosis, which reduces the number of chromosomes in the germ cell from 46 (diploid) to 23 (haploid). In human males, meiosis begins after birth, and, upon reaching puberty, men produce sperm continuously for the rest of their lives. In human females, meiosis begins before birth and the raw materials for egg cell production are formed while the female fetus is still within the uterus of her mother.