A chromosome is a thread-like structure inside cells that carries genetic information in the form of DNA. Humans usually have 46 chromosomes in each body cell, arranged in 23 pairs.
“Chromosome” combines Greek “chroma,” meaning “color,” and “soma,” meaning “body.” Early biologists named them this because the structures stained strongly with certain dyes under the microscope.
Chromosomes were named for how well they took up color, long before we knew they carried genes. Each one is like a tightly packed instruction manual for building and running a living thing. If you stretched all the DNA from one human cell end to end, it would be about 2 meters long, folded into a space you can’t see.
Chromosomes have been central to how biology talks about sex, and simplistic X/Y narratives have often been misused to justify gender stereotypes or erase intersex and trans experiences. Earlier scientific discourse sometimes overstated binary distinctions based on chromosomes alone.
Use 'chromosome' precisely in genetic contexts and avoid equating chromosomes directly with gender identity or social roles; acknowledge that biological sex characteristics and gender are more complex than X/Y patterns alone.
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