chromosomes

Cultural  

1. The small bodies in the nucleus of a cell that carry the chemical “instructions” for reproduction of the cell. They consist of strands of DNA wrapped in a double helix around a core of proteins. Each species of plant or animal has a characteristic number of chromosomes. For human beings, for example, it is forty-six.

---

Discover More

In humans, sex is determined by two chromosomes: an X-chromosome, which is female, and a Y-chromosome, which is male. (See sex chromosomes.)

Example Sentences

Two-time Olympic women's 800m champion Caster Semenya's DSD means she has male XY chromosomes.

From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026

Even men who lack Y chromosomes still have a copy of the SRY region on one of their X chromosomes, which accounts for their maleness.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

These regions of DNA ensure that chromosomes are properly separated when cells divide.

From Science Daily • Mar. 10, 2026

Therefore, if Neanderthal males and modern human females were mating more frequently, more human X chromosomes would enter the Neanderthal gene pool -- and fewer Neanderthal X chromosomes would end up in human populations.

From Barron's • Feb. 26, 2026

Within the nucleus, the chromosomes mysteriously move and divide, ranging themselves in age- old patterns that will serve to distribute the determiners of heredity, the genes, to the daughter cells.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson