In diploid organisms, such as human beings, half of the chromosomes come from the mother (one parent) and the other half come from the father (the second parent). In a given set of chromosomes, the two chromosomes are similar to each other and hence the pair is called homologous and the chromosomes are called homologous chromosomes or homologs. In a homologous pair, each of the two chromosomes are similar, but are not identical. These two chromosomes contain the same gene in the same order and they pair up during the reproduction process of meiosis. In case of human beings, we have 22 pairs of homologous chromosomes. The 23rd pair is what determines the sex of the offspring (and could be homologous) and may contain similar chromosomes (xx, indicating a female offspring) or different chromosomes (xy, indicating a male offspring).
Hope this helps.
No comments:
Post a Comment