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Middle school biology - NGSS
Chromosome pairs
Review your understanding of chromosome pairs in this free article aligned to NGSS standards.
Key points:
- Every species has its own specific number of chromosomes. For example, humans have 46 chromosomes in a typical body cell.
- Many species have chromosomes that come in matched pairs. For example, the 46 chromosomes in a human cell can be organized into 23 pairs.
- These paired chromosomes are called homologous chromosomes. Homologous chromosomes are the same size and shape.
- Homologous chromosomes contain the same genes. However, they may have different alleles, or versions, of those genes.
- Scientists and medical professionals can use a karyotype to view an organism’s sets of chromosomes. In a karyotype, pairs of homologous chromosomes are arranged next to each other. This makes it easier to see if there are any differences between chromosomes that may lead to a genetic condition.
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- why do they get down syndrome.(5 votes)
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- why does it look like bacon?(5 votes)
- why are they green and red?(2 votes)
- That's just how they look under an X-ray.(7 votes)
- Why do they have different alleles, or versions, of those genes?(3 votes)
- "During meiosis, homologous chromosomes line up and recombination occurs between them. This results in gametes with unique combinations of alleles on each chromosome and therefore unique individuals."(5 votes)
- Is it possible for human offspring to only get 10% of the genes from their parents?(3 votes)
- Yes... but only due to a HUUGE mutation.
Just a 2% differentiation in gene structure can create a whole new species.
Hope this helps.(5 votes)
- Also,why is the last pair of chromosomes in the picture labeled "X"? Why didn't they just number it 23?(3 votes)
- it is the human sex chromosomes so it determines your sex boy or girl. for more info go to lesson 4:Reproduction and genetic variation(5 votes)
- What is the rarest gene(5 votes)
- The reason why they look odd is because of the light they are looking at the chromosomes under, think about when they take an X-Ray of a bone, everything becomes black and white.(4 votes)