Video Transcript
Your body cells contain 46
chromosomes. Which of the following is true
about these chromosomes? (A) All of the chromosomes were
inherited from your biological mother. (B) 90 percent was inherited from
your biological mother and 10 percent from your biological father. (C) Half was inherited from your
biological mother and half from your biological father. Or (D) all of the chromosomes were
inherited from your biological father.
This question asks us to identify
the correct statement about the inheritance of chromosomes. Let’s briefly discuss the process
of sexual reproduction and review how genetic material is inherited from your
biological parents.
Sexual reproduction, which is
carried out by many species, including humans like us, is a process that involves
two parents that both contribute genetic material. We can therefore eliminate options
(A) and (D) as they describe genetic material only being inherited from one
parent. And this question asks us about the
chromosomes in the body cells of organisms produced via sexual reproduction,
humans. The remaining options are (B) and
(C). So, do we receive equal amounts of
genetic material from each of our biological parents, or is the split uneven?
Well, sexual reproduction involves
the fusion of gametes, an ovum or egg cell from a biological mother and a sperm cell
from a biological father, through fertilization. This combines the genetic material
from the two biological parents to form a zygote. Gametes are also called sex cells,
and they contain only half of the total genetic material of an organism. In other words, gametes only
contain one copy of each chromosome. The zygote has two copies of each
chromosome: one copy from the ovum and one from the sperm.
A human zygote has 46 chromosomes
in total: 23 from the biological father and 23 from the biological mother. This is equivalent to half from
each biological parent. So the correct answer is (C). Half was inherited from your
biological mother and half from your biological father.
