Meiosis and Chromosome Terminology
- Chromosome
- Thread-like association of DNA and proteins in a cell's nucleus.
- Somatic cell
- A body cell having both sets of genes (diploid).
- gamete
- A sex cell having one set of genes (haploid), either an egg or sperm.
- Autosomes
- Chromosomes of the same number and type present in both sexes.
- Sex chromosomes
- These carry gender information. In humans, two XX denotes a female and XY a male.
- Homologous chromosomes
- A pair of identical chromosomes. Human somatic cells have 23 homologous chromosomes.
- Diploid
- Complete set of chromosomes with a set from each parent (46 in humans).
- Haploid
- The number of chromosomes in a gamete, ½ of the diploid number (23 in humans).
- Karyotype
- Display of a diploid set of chromosomes, arranged in pairs starting with the longest pair.
- Pedigree
- A chart used to track heritable traits over many generations (family tree).