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Before you read
What is a chromosome? What's it's role in genetics? How many chromosomes do I have? To find out read on.
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Size
Every cell in our body contans an enourmous amount of DNA. Did you know that if our cells were enlarged to the size of an asprin pill our DNA would be over 10,000 meters long! Thats the same length as a 10K race or 109 football fields! DNA is packed into compact units called "chromosomes" The packing is done in several steps, starting w/ the double helix of DNA. Then the DNA is wrapped around some proteins. These proteins are packed tightly together until they form a chromosonme.
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How much?
Chromosomes are efficient storage units for DNA. Each human cell has 46 chromosomes. All the DNA is organized into two sets of 23 chromosomes. WE get gentic material from both of our parents-that's why children look like both their parents. There are two sex chromosomes that determine if you are male or female. Sex chromosomes are labed X & Y. Males have a X & Y chromosome, females have two X cromosomes.
But not all living things have 46 chromosomes. Mospuitos have 6, Onions have 16 and Carp have 104.
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