egg cell
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An egg cell is the female reproductive cell that contains half the genetic information needed to create a new organism. It matters because when an egg cell combines with a sperm cell during fertilization, the two halves come together to form a complete genetic blueprint for a developing baby.
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Human egg cell The egg cell or ovum (pl.: ova) is the female reproductive cell, or gamete, in most anisogamous organisms (organisms that reproduce sexually with a larger, female gamete and a smaller, male one). The term is used when the female gamete is not capable of movement (non-motile). If the male gamete (sperm) is capable of movement, the type of sexual reproduction is also classified as oogamous. A nonmotile female gamete formed in the oogonium of some algae, fungi, oomycetes, or bryophytes is an oosphere. When fertilized, the oosphere becomes the oospore.
When egg and sperm fuse together during fertilisation, a diploid cell (the zygote) is formed, which rapidly grows into a new organism.