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The Basic of
Human
Reproduction
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Heredity is the mechanism for the transmission

of human characteristics from one generation to
the next.
Each person carries a genetic code or genome,
- a complete set of coded instructions of making
and maintaining an organism.
The genome is described as the blueprint or
book of human life.
The nucleus inside the cells contains a complete set of the
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body’s genome that is twisted into forty-six packets of
threadlike microscopic structures called CHROMOSOMES.
The CHROMOSOMES come in twenty-three pairs.
Each pairs is composed of one chromosomes from male (Y)
and female(X) parents, respectively.
Each set has twenty-two single chromosomes call
AUTOSOMES that carry, physical, mental and personality
characteristics.
The twenty-third pair, the XY chromosomes, determines the sex
of the organism.
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Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA – is a complex

molecule that contains the genome.
DNA consists of two strands of twisted ladder-
shaped structure called DOUBLE HELIX that wrap
around each other.
The double helix was discovered in 1953 by
American biochemist James Watson and British
biophysicist Francis Crick.
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The code is spelled out by four chemicals or

nucleotides bases, namely ADENINE, THYMINE,
GUANINE, and CYSTOSINE.
Adenine pairs with Thymine, while Guanine pairs
with Cystosine to form the rungs of the ladder
Basic terms in human reproduction
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Gametes are human reproduction cells which are created in the

productive organs.
Meiosis is the process of cell division in which each pair of
chromosomes in the cells separates.
Ovum is the only about one-fourth size of a period, but is the largest
cell in the human body.
Fertilization is the fusion of haploid gametes, egg and sperm, to form
the diploid zygote. (Note though there can be subtle differences in
the fertilization process which occurs naturally within the body or
through reproductive technologies outside the body, the overall product
in both cases is a diplod zygote.)
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