Question

A husband has 46 chromosomes, wife has 46 chromosomes.then why don't their offspring have 46 pairs of chromosomes, which is obtained by male and female gametes? Support your answers with neat illustration.

Answer 1

The somatic cells of human are diploid and contain 46 chromosomes. Sperm and ovum are haploid and they contain half the no of chromosomes present in somatic cell. They fuse together and form diploid zygote. This zygote now contains 46 chromosome i.e. 23 (sperm) + 23(ovum). Zygote after going embryonic develops into new individual with 46 chromosomes.