gynogenesis

noun

gy·​no·​gen·​e·​sis ˌgī-nə-ˈje-nə-səs  ji- 

: development in which the embryo contains only maternal chromosomes due to activation of an egg by a sperm that degenerates without fusing with the egg nucleus

gynogenetic

ˌgī-nə-jə-ˈne-tik 

ji-

adjective

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

This new sturddlefish came into existence when the research team tried to breed more Russian sturgeons via gynogenesis, a type of asexual reproduction in which sperm is necessary but leaves no traces of its DNA behind. —Daisy Hernandez, Popular Mechanics, 5 Apr. 2022

This is where the American paddlefish comes into as the team used sperm from this fish to start the gynogenesis in the sturgeon. —Daisy Hernandez, Popular Mechanics, 5 Apr. 2022

Moreover, aquaculturists had previously used sperm from paddlefish to trigger gynogenesis in other sturgeon species and vice versa, and none of those experiments had ever produced crossbreeds. —Quanta Magazine, 5 Aug. 2020

Word History

Etymology

gyno- + genesis, after androgenesis

Note: The term was introduced by the American biologist Edmund Beecher Wilson (1856-1939) in The Cell in Development and Heredity, third edition (New York: 1925), p. 460.

First Known Use

1925, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

gynogenesis

noun

gy·​no·​gen·​e·​sis -ˈjen-ə-səs 

plural gynogeneses -ˌsēz 

: development in which the embryo contains only maternal chromosomes due to activation of an egg by a sperm that degenerates without fusing with the egg nucleus compare androgenesis

gynogenetic

-jə-ˈnet-ik 

adjective