Getting Down With Chromosomes
On our 4th day of MARCHING into TRISOMY AWARENESS MONTH, we are going to share an interesting FACT about chromosomes. We all have learned that Trisomy is a chromosome disorder, but does everyone know what a chromosome is? A chromosome is a threadlike strand of DNA in the cell nucleus that carries the genes in a linear order. Each chromosome carries genes that contain the hereditary material that controls the growth and characteristics of the body. There are 46 chromosomes in each human cell organized in 23 pairs, of which 22 pairs are similar in appearance but differ at the molecular level. Here is the interesting fact; the chromosomes are designated by a number beginning with chromosome 1 being the longest, followed by chromosome 2, etc. So as the numbers get higher, the chromosome gets smaller as you can see in the sample picture. Share because you Care. ♥
On our 5th day of MARCHING into TRISOMY AWARENESS MONTH, we are going to share a little more about chromosomes. Did you know that a chromosome has ARMS? Well...it does. All human chromosomes have 2 arms -- a short arm and a long arm -- that are separated from each other only by the centromere, the point at which the chromosome is attached to the spindle during cell division. The short arm is termed the "p arm" while the long arm of the chromosome is termed the "q arm." The symbol "p" was chosen to designate the short arm because "p" stands for "petit", "small" in French. The letter "q" was selected to signify the long arm merely because "q" is the next letter in the alphabet. Share because you Care. ♥
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