As the triumphant sperm reaches the egg the sperm begins to burrow its head to the egg to exchange genetic information. Inside the cells, one chromosome of each pair is the same to one in the sex cell the father contributed and the other in the same pair is identical to one of the sex cells the mother contributed. ... Each 46 chromosomes contain genes and each gene contains DNA, a protein substance which controls the form and function of cells and tissues of this individual so that they harmonize with his hereditary pattern. ... Going back to the original cell, composed of the parent's un...

• Word Count: 1654
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

When the sperm meets the egg, a person begins. The person has an entirely new set of DNA than both parents and is an individual. ... That is, he can reproduce his own cells and develop them into a specific pattern of maturity and function. ...

• Word Count: 756
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Carrier testing can be used to help couples to learn if they carry - and thus risk passing to their children - a recessive allele for inherited disorders such as cystic fibrosis, sickle-cell anemia, or Tay-Sachs disease. Genetic tests - biochemical, chromosomal, and DNA-based - also are widely available for the prenatal diagnosis of conditions such as Down syndrome. ... On the other hand, pre-implantation genetic testing is the use of the male's sperm and the female's egg through invitro fertilization to come up with some possible embryos, which can be used to detect disease. ...

• Word Count: 1715
• Approx Pages: 7