A cell nucleus that contains only half the normal number of chromosomes, or a cell produced by incomplete cell division containing such a nucleus.
From 'hemi-' (half) + Greek 'karyon' (nucleus), a biological term used in cytology to describe abnormal nuclei with reduced chromosome number.
A hemikaryon is nature's half-measure in cell division—when something goes wrong and a cell ends up with only half the chromosomes it should have, it usually can't survive for long, but studying these mistakes teaches us how important the chromosome balance really is.
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