Essential Cell Biology, 4th Edition

Published by Garland Science
ISBN 10: 0815344546
ISBN 13: 978-0-81534-454-4

Chapter 19 - Sexual Reproduction and the Power of Genetics - Questions - Page 656: Question 19-2

Answer

Whether or not the person is male or female does not matter, as each person has 46 chromosomes that can be paired in an infinite number of ways and varieties.

Work Step by Step

Meiosis is a process that occurs constantly in the body, manifesting in an egg a month for women and millions of sperm in a day for men. However, these germ cells are made from various combinations of our own chromosomes, resulting in an infinite number of gametes that we as humans can make in a life time. The equation to calculate the number of gametes we are capable of making on our own is $2^{23}=8.4x10^6$, which comes out to roughly 8,400,000. However, our gametes are entirely dependent on which way the bivalents that hold our chromatids together during meiosis are facing at the time that they connect to the mieotic spindle. Because the direction of the bivalents is completely random, the number of variations we are capable of is infinite regardless of gender.
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