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How much do you weigh ? No , not your consistency weight ( we ’re not here to judge ) — but the weight unit of yourchromosomes , those ex - shaped pile of genetical instructions that make youyou ?
If you do n’t know offhand , then scientist have you covered . Using one of the U.K. ’s most potent X - shaft beams , a team of researchers recently measured the mass of the 46 human chromosomes .
The spread of 46 human chromosomes, with added color.
The results were surprising : Each chromosome was about 20 times heavier than theDNAcontained inside them — a much greater mass than the researchers forestall , consort to their study print March 31 in the journalChromosome Research .
concern : Is the Y chromosome die out ?
" Our mensuration suggests the 46 chromosome in each of our cells weigh 242 picograms ( trillionths of a gram ) , " study carbon monoxide gas - source Ian Robinson , a professor of physics at University College , London , tell in a financial statement . " This is heavy than we would expect , and , if replicated , points to unexplained excess mint in chromosome . "
Each human cell ordinarily contain 23 pair of chromosome . Within each chromosome is one deoxyribonucleic acid molecule and a superfluity of protein that serve a mixture of functions , such as compress your 6.5 - foot - long ( 2 meters ) strand of DNA into teensy bundles small enough to correspond into individual cell .
The U.S. government activity - run Human Genome Project revealed , among other things , the spate of DNA molecules — however , the weight of the chromosome that house these molecules rest a enigma . empathize this could lead to further insights about the complex structure of chromosomes , which are studied extensively by medical research laboratory for things like cancer diagnoses , accord to the researchers .
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To calculate the hatful of a standard set of 46 human chromosome , the study authors used a proficiency called decade - ray ptychography — fundamentally , creating a 3D model of the chromosomes by shooting them with an extremely powerfulX - raybeam at the U.K. ’s Diamond Light Source science center in Oxfordshire . With this simulation , the researchers could reckon the exact number of negatron in each chromosome , allowing the researchers to judge the chromosome ' total mass .
The fact that chromosome weigh 20 fourth dimension more than the deoxyribonucleic acid within them mystify the squad ; so far , there ’s no good explanation for this " surplus " multitude , but further study could reveal the closed book eat up below the X.
earlier publish on Live Science .
