An organised picture of an individual's chromosomes arranged by size, used to detect abnormalities.
Cells are arrested in metaphase, stained and photographed; chromosomes are paired by size, banding pattern and centromere position. Karyotypes can detect aneuploidies (such as trisomy 21), translocations and large deletions.
Samples come from amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling or blood.
An organised picture of an individual's chromosomes arranged by size, used to detect abnormalities.
Karyotype is one of the 54 topics in Genetics. It is rated Beginner, so it suits learners who are starting out in biology. Related topics in this area include Nondisjunction, Turner and Klinefelter Syndromes, Chromosomal Mutations.
A Turner syndrome karyotype shows 45,X.
Karyotype is a Beginner topic, so no earlier topic is required. Other Beginner topics in Genetics that pair well with it include Heredity, Gene, Allele.
The closest topics to Karyotype are Nondisjunction, Turner and Klinefelter Syndromes, Chromosomal Mutations, Allele. Comparing them side by side is a good way to see how the ideas connect.
Read the summary and the in-depth section, then use the quick check on the interactive lesson for Karyotype. To practise the whole of Genetics, use the Genetics quiz.
Karyotype: An organised picture of an individual's chromosomes arranged by size, used to detect abnormalities. Nondisjunction: Failure of chromosomes to separate in meiosis, producing gametes with extra or missing chromosomes. Read both side by side and note what each one explains.
First, read the summary and write the definition in your own words. Second, read the in-depth section and note any example. Third, compare it with Nondisjunction and explain the difference aloud. Finally, take the Genetics quiz and come back to this page for any question you miss.
Failure of chromosomes to separate in meiosis, producing gametes with extra or missing chromosomes.
🧬 GeneticsSex chromosome aneuploidies: Turner is XO and Klinefelter is XXY.
🧬 GeneticsLarge structural changes including deletions, duplications, inversions and translocations of chromosome segments.
🧬 GeneticsOne of the alternative versions of a gene found at the same position on a chromosome.
🧬 Genetics