Until now, the sperm offered by men had been considered as only contribution to reproduction. For a long time, scientists have been trying to understand why men exist. Now, according to the scientists from United Kingdom, they have found the answer.

The British scientists said males exist because they are needed for a process called ‘sexual selection’. According to them, the process helps species to protect against disease.

The scientists said a system where all the offspring are produced without sex between males and females would be more efficient at reproducing a huge number of offspring. According to the researchers, they conducted a research and found that males compete in sexual selection to be chosen by females for the process of reproduction. It improves the gene pool and also encourages population health.

According to the researchers, in a scenario when there is no sex between males and females, or no requirement to compete for it leaves offspring population weaker genetically. Matt Gage, professor at Britain's University of East Anglia and lead researcher, said that competition among males for females for the process of reproduction is very important as it helps in improving the genetic health of populations.

Gage said the process of competing for females for reproduction acts a filer to remove harmful genetic mutations. It also helps in avoiding extinction of population in the long-term, Gage added. According to Gage, “Almost all multi-cellular species reproduce using sex, but its existence is not easy to explain biologically because sex has big downsides — including that only half of the offspring, the daughters, will produce offspring themselves”.

The research conducted by Gage and other researchers have been published on Monday in the journal Nature.