What are genes and chromosomes?
• Every cell in our body has our genetic information (DNA). We pass this information on to our children
• The sum of our DNA is called the “genome”. You can think of this as the “library” of all of our genetic material
• The DNA is packaged in a “chromosome”. Normally we have 23 chromosomes each from our mother and father You can think of each chromosome as a “book” in the library.
• Each chromosome is made up of hundred of “genes” which you think of as “words” making up the book. Each gene tells the cell how to do something in particular, for example, make a protein, which is the building block of the cell
• Each gene if made up of a sequence of DNA base-pairs, which you can think of as the “letters” making up the words in the book