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what is gametogenesis ? and what are the process involved in it, both male and female.

Gametogenesis is a process in which an organism makes gametes, cells which are used in sexual reproduction. Each gamete contains half the genetic material of the parent organism.
Female organisms produce eggs or oocytes in a process known as oogenesis, while male organisms make sperm in spermatogenesis. Both processes rely on meiosis, a cell division technique which ends with four cells containing half the DNA of the parent cell. Such cells are known as haploid.
Spermatogenisis is the development of mature sperm, which occurs through cell division and maturation within the seminiferous tubules. The process of production of a single sperm is roughly seven weeks.

Mature oocytes are formed in a long (in females) process called oogenesis. Although ovaries contain immature eggs, these may not complete their development for years.

In the process of meiosis, spermatogenesis produces four mature gametes. In contrast, oogenesis involves unequal cytokinesis, with all cytoplasm going to one large daughter cell (precursor to egg). The other three daughter cells disintegrate.

In males, spermatogenesis occurs from adolescence to adulthood, while in females, the mitotic divisions of oogenesis occur before birth, and mature gamete production ends about age 50.

Spermatogenesis is a continuous process and is always ongoing in the male, while long breaks occur between periods of oogenesis in the female.



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