While watching one of the "Law and Order" episodes, the doctor held up two similar DNA's of two brothers, and the police officer stated that the mother passed the DNA on to the children. Was the police officer merely saying that this DNA passing on to children occurs in childbirth, or was he saying that somehow only the mother determines the DNA passed on to children? Is there a special way in which DNA is passed on to children?
DNA is deteremined at exactly the moment of conception. Both the father and the mother determine the characteristics and qualities the genes of the child will possess.
As soon as the egg has been penetrated by the sperm and the first cell division has taken place, the stage is set.
Both the mother and the father contribute 23 chromosomes which combine for a NORMAL total of 46 chromosomes. These combine and then start replicating through meiosis.
quote:
meiosis A type of nuclear division associated with sexual reproduction, producing four haploid cells from a single diploid cell, the process involving two cycles of division
The male partner determines the gender of the child.
Posts: 9078 | Location: PA, USA | Registered: 06-05-02
Perhaps they were speaking of mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited from the mother only.
Mitochondria are organelles found in nearly every cell of the body, responsible for cellular respiration and other metabolic functions. Each mitochondrion contain DNA distinct from the nuclear DNA representing the organism's genome.
Egg cells in the female body contain a normal complement of mitochondria, while sperm cells contain little or none. So when egg and sperm fuse, the mitochondria are almost all from the mother.
Posts: 1967 | Location: U.S. | Registered: 06-03-02
I vaguely remembered most of what Sherasi offered. Yet, suspecting that these modern programs have professionals reviewing the scripts for accuracy, I had to ask, and it looks as though someone was trying to balance the facts offered by both Sherasi and Professor.
