Question

How many sex chromosomes does the normal human female inherit from her mother?

Answer 1

Hint: The number of sex chromosomes in both human male and female are two or we can say there is only 1 pair of sex chromosomes in humans.

Complete answer:
1)Chromosomes contain DNA that has genetic information and this genetic information is inherited to the offspring from the parents.

2)Humans have a total of 46 chromosomes or 23 pairs of chromosomes out of which 22 pairs of chromosomes are known as autosomes and the remaining 1 pair of chromosomes is known as the sex chromosomes. In human males, the sex chromosomes are X and Y and in human females, the sex chromosomes are a pair of two X chromosomes.

3)So the offspring receives one sex chromosome from each of the parents since the mother always has two X chromosomes, it always contributes one X chromosome to the offspring, now the gender of the offspring depends upon the chromosome received from the father. If the father contributes to the X chromosome, then the offspring will be a girl child and if the father contributes to the Y chromosome, the offspring will be a boy. So a human female inherits one sex chromosome from the mother.

Note: The abnormalities in number of sex chromosomes can cause various chromosomal disorders. For example triple X syndrome, where a female has three X chromosomes instead of two. Turner syndrome is a condition where a female has only one X chromosome. Klinefelter's syndrome is a condition where a human male has extra X chromosomes and human males have an extra Y chromosome in a disorder known as XYY syndrome.