Question

How many pairs of chromosomes are present in human beings?

Answer 1

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

Complete Answer:
When you look at yourself in mirrors, to groom yourself, to give a good hairstyle, what you see is the expression of the genes that your parents have gifted you! These genes are just not giving you the attractive features, in fact all the metabolic activities and structural aspects of your body are defined by the genes.
Now, these genes are basically nothing but the segments of DNA, our genetic material. These segments of DNA that code for a protein, which can be a hormone, an enzyme, a structural protein, are called genes. Genes also code for RNA in our cells, that perform a variety of metabolic functions.
Now, the thing is that these genes are present in DNA as a stretch of nucleotide. But where is DNA present? DNA is located inside the nucleus (in case of eukaryotic cells), where it is packed with proteins to form the chromatin network. This chromatic network is condensed and packed during the cell division and are called chromosomes.

So chromosomes are basically the vehicles carrying DNA from parents to offspring! Now different organisms have different numbers of chromosomes. In human beings have 44 autosomes and 2 sex chromosomes, present in pairs. In an individual, half of the chromosomes are received from the mother via the ovum and the other half is received from father via the sperm. After fertilization, these chromosomes pair based on homology of genes, and are called homologous chromosomes. So, a pair of homologous is made up of the same type of genes, although alleles might differ.

Human beings have 44 autosomes and 2 sex chromosomes, present in pairs.

Note: The sex chromosomes decide the sex of an individual. If it’s XY, the individual is male and if it’s XX, the individual is a female. The autosomes perform the other somatic functions of the body.