What is the point of sex? Since Charles Darwin’s time, this question has troubled scientists around the world. Not, any more.
Thanks to biologists at the University of Indiana who claim to have discovered that animals reproduce together, rather than simply cloning themselves, because it helps them to ward off parasites, the Daily Telegraph reported.
In fact, according to them, the findings support the evolutionary theory that blending of two animals’ genomes creates an offspring with a new genetic code which may make it more resistant to attack.
The biologists say they may have provided the best evidence yet after engineering two types of worms, some which could only reproduce by mating with each other and some could only clone themselves.
After exposing them to a harmful bacteria, worms that reproduced through sex survived fairly well while those that were asexual died rapidly. Co-author Curtis Lively said: “The Red Queen Hypothesis predicts that sex should allow hosts to evade infection from their parasites, whereas self-fertilisation may increase the risk of infection.
“The coevolutionary struggle between hosts and their parasites could explain the existence of males.”