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Title: Why do we need 46 chromosomes? Post by: Outerspace on Apr 22, 2020 Pretty straightforward. I know that if you have an extra chromosome you have a different effect, but why do we need that specific number of chromosomes? Thanks
Title: Re: Why do we need 46 chromosomes? Post by: bio_man on Apr 22, 2020 We evolved to have 46, but we definitely don't need that many. Most of our genes can be combined into a few chromosomes if nature evolved perfectly.
To give you an idea, chimpanzees I believe have 48. Our chromosome 2 is a combination of two chromosomes founds in chimps, and we know that because our contains the same genes found in 2 separate chromosomes of those found in chimps. And, combining their 2 smaller ones is the size of our chromosome 2. Why's this important? Because chromosome number doesn't matter. As long as all the genes are present, and the correct amount, in theory is enough to program a species |