WHAT ARE CHROMOSOMES?

 Chromosomes are thread-like structures located inside the nucleus of animal and plant
cells.

 Each chromosome is made of protein and a single molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid

(DNA).

 The chromosomes from both the parents are passed on to offspring during fertilization.

 DNA contains the specific instructions that make each type of living creature unique.

THE NAME – Chromosome:

The term chromosome comes from the Greek words for color (chroma) and body (soma).
Scientists gave this name to chromosomes because they are cell structures, or bodies, that are
strongly stained by some colorful dyes used in research.

FUNCTION OF CHROMOSOME:

 It keeps DNA tightly wrapped around spool-like proteins, called histones.

Without such packaging, DNA molecules would be too long to fit inside
cells.

 During cell division, it is essential that DNA remains intact and evenly
distributed among cells.

 Changes in the number or structure of chromosomes in new cells may lead

to serious problems.

For example, in humans, one type of leukemia and some other cancers are
caused by defective chromosomes made up of joined pieces of broken
chromosomes.
  It is also crucial that reproductive cells, such as eggs and sperm, contain
the right number of chromosomes and that those chromosomes have the
correct structure.

For example, people with Down syndrome have three copies of chromosome 21,
instead of the two copies found in other people.

 Chromosomes vary in number and shape among living things.

 Most bacteria have one or two circular chromosomes.

 Humans, along with other animals and plants, have linear chromosomes
that are arranged in pairs within the nucleus of the cell.

 The only human cells that do not contain pairs of chromosomes are
reproductive cells, or gametes, which carry just one copy of each
chromosome.

 Mitochondria and chloroplast contain its own set of chromosomes.

Fun Fact: Scientists think that, in the past, mitochondria were free-
living bacteria with the ability to convert oxygen into energy. When
these bacteria invaded cells lacking the power to tap into oxygen's
power, the cells retained them, and, over time, the bacteria evolved
into modern-day mitochondria.
Other parts of chromosomes:

Telomere:

 A telomere is a region of repetitive DNA sequences at the end of

a chromosome.

 Telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes from becoming

frayed or tangled.

 They protect the ends of chromosomes in a manner similar to the way the tips of
shoelaces keep them from unraveling.

 In many types of cells, telomeres lose a bit of their DNA every time a cell divides.
Eventually, when all of the telomere DNA is gone, the cell cannot replicate and
dies.
  White blood cells and other cell types with the capacity to divide very frequently
have a special enzyme that prevents their chromosomes from losing their
telomeres. Because they retain their telomeres, such cells generally live longer
than other cells.

 Telomeres also play a role in cancer. The chromosomes of malignant cells

usually do not lose their telomeres, helping to fuel the uncontrolled growth that
makes cancer so devastating.

Centromere:

 The centromere appears as a constricted region of a chromosome and plays a

key role in helping the cell divide up its DNA during division (mitosis and
meiosis).

 Although this constriction is called the centromere, it usually is not located

exactly in the center of the chromosome and, in some cases, is located almost at
the chromosome's end.

 The regions on either side of the centromere are referred to as the

chromosome's arms.

 Centromeres help to keep chromosomes properly aligned during the complex

process of cell division.

 As chromosomes are copied in preparation for production of a new cell, the

centromere serves as an attachment site for the two halves of each replicated
chromosome, known as sister chromatids.

DNA:
 While studying white blood cells, Miescher isolated a previously unknown type of
molecule that was slightly acidic and contained a high percentage of phosphorus.
 Miescher named this molecule "nuclein," which was later changed to "nucleic
acid" and eventually to "deoxyribonucleic acid," or DNA.

 DNA is responsible for building and maintaining your human structure. Genes are
segments of your DNA, which give you physical characteristics that make each
organism unique.

 The shape of deoxyribonucleic acid is a double helix. The structure is composed

of two polynucleotide chains where the paired bases project inside and the
backbone of the helix is formed by sugar-phosphate molecules.

 DNA is made of chemical building blocks called nucleotides.

 These building blocks are made of three parts: a phosphate group, a sugar group
and one of four types of nitrogen bases.

 To form a strand of DNA, nucleotides are linked into chains, with the phosphate
and sugar groups alternating.

 The bases used in DNA are adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine
(G) and thymine (T).

 In RNA, the base uracil (U) takes the place of thymine.

Genes:

 The gene is considered the basic unit of inheritance.

 Genes are passed from parents to offspring and contain the

information needed to specify physical and biological traits.

 Most genes code for specific proteins, or segments of

proteins, which have differing functions within the body.

The name GENES:

 Danish botanist Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the
Mendelian units of heredity. He also made the distinction between the outward
appearance of an individual (phenotype) and its genetic traits (genotype).

 In biology, the word gene (from Greek: génos; meaning generation or birth or
gender) can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit
of heredity and the molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is
transcribed to produce a functional RNA.