18th May 2016

You were once a single cell

During fertilization of the egg by the sperm, the DNA of the sperm is injected into the egg. Both the sperm and the egg have a single set of chromosomes each, but the fertilized egg receives the DNA from the sperm and comes to possess both the sets of chromosomes. This fertilized egg cell stays as such for about half an hour and then proceeds to divide to form the multicellular embryo. Thus, all of us have spent about half an hour as a single cell.

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4th May 2016

The first synthetic human chromosome

Chromosomes are considered the basic structures of heredity. They carry the codes that give rise to the expression of the characteristic features of an organism. Humans have 46 chromosomes. In 1997, a team of scientists J.J. Harrington, G.V. Bokkelen, R.W. Mays, K. Gustashaw, and H.F. Willard synthesized artiļ¬cial chromosomes. These chromosomes are stable up to six weeks. These chromosomes can be used as vectors to carry genes of interest into other cells and for the study of their expression.

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