Like Father, Like Mother

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1. Landon glances across the dinner table. He thinks to himself that his father's curly hair looks just like his own. He wishes his hair were straight like his mother's because he thinks he looks better with straight hair. Landon works hard to make it straighter. He uses hair gel and combs it straight, but it usually curls right back up. He has his mother's nose, but not her hair. Emily, his sister, is also the result of the combination of the DNA from both of his parents. The process of mixing genetic material from two parents to create offspring is called sexual reproduction. Most eukaryotic organisms, like Landon, are formed through the process of sexual reproduction. Emily has straight hair like their mother's. Landon realizes that he and Emily are evidence that sexual reproduction creates diverse offspring. 

2. Landon's dinner plate is filled with one of his favorite foods, mashed potatoes. The potatoes are fresh from his grandmother's garden. He remembers helping her get ready to plant the potatoes in early spring. They cut potatoes into several pieces and planted the pieces in a straight row in the garden. When these eukaryotic plants came up, he noticed that each plant looked like all the others. These identical offspring with uniform traits are the result of asexual reproduction. Landon's grandmother grew new potatoes by cutting whole potatoes into smaller pieces. This is a type of asexual reproduction called vegetative propagation.

3. After dinner, Landon wanted to go watch television. His mother insisted that he first put the leftover food in the refrigerator. Perhaps she knew that the cool temperature inside the refrigerator would stop the growth of bacteria. Bacteria, which are prokaryotic, can reproduce asexually in as little as 20 minutes. This rapid asexual reproduction, called binary fission, would produce thousands and thousands of identical bacterial cells. They could cause Landon's tasty leftover food to spoil before the end of his favorite show.

4. Landon finishes up the dishes and puts away the leftovers. As he sets the last dinner glass back into the cupboard, he catches a glimpse of his curly hair in his reflection. He thinks to himself that his mother's nose and his father's hair are actually a good combination. It looks pretty good on him.